Games
by hghrules
Summary: *Skylox, Ssunkipz, Merome* "Sky!" Ty shouts worriedly, dropping to his knees next to me and hugging me close to him. He glances at the GameMaster. "What'd you do to him?" he growls. - "Rule number three: No rebelling against or arguing with the GameMaster."
1. Chapter 1

_Welcome, my be-ay-yoo-tiful Rulers! The book you're preparing to read is called _**Games.** _The main pairing throughout this story is Skylox (with Skybrine and a tad of Enderlox near the beginning), but there's also quite a bit of Ssunkipz and a bit of Merome._

_I got the idea for this story from a dream I had. I woke up after #30 in the badly formatted outline that I'll be posting at the end of this book (cause it'd just be cruel to post it here and expect you to have enough self-discipline to not spoil the ending for yourself). I literally jumped out of bed after yanking my glasses off the nightstand and stumbled out to the living room. Nearly knocked over my guitar, which I had stupidly put right in the middle of the hallway the night before. Anyways, I ran over to the laptop, which is behind the couch in the living room, and started typing immediately. Literally, immediately. And my mom walks into the room and kinda glances at me like, "Uh, ok. Whatever." And then she says "Morning," like normal people usually do on mornings, and I'm just like, "nnnghghghg." She left me alone after that._

_**WARNINGS: This thing is chock-full of feels, I'm warning you now. Maybe not this chapter in particular, but man, there are a few chapters that are just insane. ALSO, there is quite a bit of gore in some parts, and I describe pain as descriptively as possible to try to induce feels. This is also a book with boyxboy in it, so I mean, you probably shouldn't be roaming the 'Skylox' section of wattpad/fanfiction . net if you don't wanna read that.**_

_ANYWAYS, EN-JUH-HOY CHAPTER ONE OF _GAMES!_ PREPARE FOR MAJOR FEELS LATER ON!_

**Games**

**Ch 1: Challenge Times Eight**

"This isn't fair," I complain, staring at the wide screen TV in the TC headquarters. "Why hasn't anyone stopped this GameMaster dude yet?"

"Because no one has the power to stop him," Ty tells me, turning down the volume on the TV. "Apparently you can only harm him if you're _in_ the game. And anyone who enters the game is immediately stripped of all supernatural abilities."

I grab the remote from Ty and turn the volume up again. The TV is playing the latest season of "Challenge Times Eight." It's exactly what it sounds like: a challenge times eight. Well, sort of. It's eight challenges, all put together by the GameMaster. The GameMaster forces the players to compete in these challenges. The challenges could test mental, physical, emotional, or social ability. Basically, the goal in this huge game is to get more points than all your fellow players; each time you win a challenge, you get three points.

There are also mini-challenges between the actual challenges. If you win those, you get one point and you get a small advantage in the next full-size challenge.

It's definitely an interesting show to watch.

But it's freaking evil.

You see, people can volunteer to go on "Challenge Times Eight" if they want to, but no one really does. This is because if you lose "Challenge Times Eight," you could possibly die. And if no one volunteers for the show, the GameMaster uses his teleportation powers to just zap eight random people into the game against their will.

Another thing about "Challenge Times Eight;" most people who enter the game get their memories wiped (or at least most of their memories) before the gameplay actually begins. The GameMaster has a much smaller chance of rebellion from the players if the players don't even remember a life before "Challenge Times Eight."

Sometimes the GameMaster will let one or two of the players keep all their memories, just to make the season interesting. Usually when he does this, he does it to someone who's in a relationship with another player. For example, Person A could be completely in love with Person B and vice versa, but when "Challenge Times Eight" begins, the GameMaster erases the memory of only Person A, and Person B is left with a lover who doesn't even know their name.

Those episodes are especially painful to watch.

Of course, we don't _have_ to watch them, but everyone does, especially if one of their loved ones suddenly goes missing. It's only common sense to check who the next season's players are going to be whenever someone goes missing, because the person is probably only missing because the GameMaster needed more players.

This show has been going on for seven years. No one's been able to stop it.

I want to stop it.

"I want to volunteer for the show," I announce suddenly as a person on screen falls into a pit of lava. Ouch.

Ty's eyes widen, as do everyone else's. "What? That's crazy, Sky!" Jason says.

"Why? Doesn't seem crazy to me."

"You'll probably end up dying, Sky. You won't be able to use your powers once you're in there," Ian points out.

"I'll be fine, promise. It'll be fun! And anyways, I don't need my powers to defeat the GameMaster. I'll get in there, win the game, and when he's giving me my reward, I'll bash his face in!"

Ty rolls his eyes, slapping his Enderdragon tail against the ground. Oh, did I not mention our powers? I probably did, just not in detail. Ty is an Enderdragon hybrid, in case you hadn't figured that out yet. Ian goes crazy Derp when his glasses are taken off. He can summon cake, which may seem pointless but actually comes in handy pretty often. Jason is a Wither hybrid, and if you make him mad, he'll grow two extra heads and start firing explosive skulls at you. Luckily, he's not easily angered.

Then there's Quentin, a fish- er, Mudkip. He's a boss at swimming, and he can breathe underwater, but he can breathe above water as well. And we can't forget Seto, he's a sorcerer. That power is pretty self-explanatory, but just in case you're an idiot, I'll tell you what he can do. He can throw orbs of electricity, fire, water, earth, clouds, poison, and just about anything else at your face.

It hurts.

Trust me.

We also have Jerome, a Bacca who is practically in love with his diamond ax, Betty, and Mitch, a regular guy who is unnaturally good at PVP. (Notice I worded that so that it could also be read as "Jerome, who is practically in love with Mitch." Yeah. I'm good, I know.)

And then there's me.

I'm Skybrine.

I get to summon lightning and make creepy noises that cause most people to wet themselves without even realizing it. Also, my eyes glow, which is definitely a plus. Sadly, I can't turn the glow off, so sneaking around in the dark is pretty hard unless I wanna close my eyes the entire time. That's why I'm always wearing sunglasses. I have the ability to cause someone pain just by touching them, too, but I don't use that power much. I don't like hurting people, which sucks since my dad is basically the King of Pain. Yeah, I'm Herobrine's son. The majority of the world hates me before they even get to know me.

Much unfair, very idiot, such cliché. But whatever. I don't really understand why people will accept a humanoid with a dragon tail and a talking fish that insists he's an amphibian but not me.

At least Team Crafted accepts me. Anyways, back to life.

"That is the worst idea you've ever had," Ty says, "and you've had some pretty stupid ideas."

"Just because it's stupid doesn't mean it won't work."

"One of your plans worked. Literally _one_," Jason reminds me.

I groan. "Come on, guys, we have to do this! We can't let this guy continue to kidnap random people!"

Mitch sighs. "Well, it's stupid, but..."

"It _is_ our job to protect people," Jerome finishes.

"Exactly! Team Crafted was created so at least eight of the people in the world would be using their powers for good, and if we're just sitting here being bumps on a log, then Team Crafted is pretty pointless," I say.

Seto shrugs. "Okay. Let's do it."

"Be bumps on a log?"

"No, you idiot!" he laughs. "Let's volunteer for the show. The latest season ended a few days ago, so the GameMaster will be starting the next one soon."

"Geez, does this guy ever take a break?" Quentin mutters.

"Nope. He only takes five days between seasons to prepare," Ian informs him.

"Well, Seto's in! How about the rest of you?" I ask cheerfully, turning the TV off so they can't see one of the players on the show getting set on fire and then pushed into a vat of bubbling green acid.

Ty sighs. "You realize we could die if we go in there?"

I nod excitedly.

Ty glares at me. "Well, if you're going, I'm going. Though, as your sane friend, I must insist that you _not_ go-"

"I'm going."

"Fine. I am too."

I smile. "Jason? Mitch and Jerome, Quentin, Ian? You guys up for it?"

Mitch pumps his fist in the air. "YEAH! LET'S DO THIS!"

Jerome cheers. "WOOHOO! TEAM CRAFTED IS PLAYING 'CHALLENGE TIMES EIGHT!'"

Quentin and Ian shrug. "Why not?"

"Uh, because we might die?" Ty suggests. I glare at him, and he glares back.

Jason grins. "This'll be fun."

"Alright, then. It's settled. Let's go sign up," I say. We all stand up from where we were sitting in various spots around the living room. Everyone files out of the room (and by 'files', I mean 'runs out of the room in the form of a big blob of people') except for Ty and I. "You know, you don't have to go if you don't want to," I tell him quietly.

He shakes his head. "I don't want to go, not at all. But I can't let you go alone, can I?"

"I wouldn't be alone, I'd have the rest of the team," I remind him. Something flickers in his eyes, and for a second, I allow myself to think it might be love. But I don't want to get my hopes up, especially right before entering myself in "Challenge Times Eight."

"No. If you're risking your life like an idiot, I'm gonna be right next to you doing the same thing," he insists.

I smile. "Let's go, then."


	2. Chapter 2

**Games**

**Ch 2: Poke the Fish**

I write my name on the sheet last. Then Jason takes the sheet and slides it into the teleporting mailbox. The GameMaster will receive our sign-up sheet in approximately five seconds, and we'll probably be teleported to his GameRoom a few seconds later.

_PIGGLEBIGGLEBOOMZAPBANGTSSSS!_

And now we're all in the GameRoom. The GameRoom is a boring gray room that players stay in while the GameMaster is finishing the game's set up. I turn to Ty, who is fidgeting nervously. "You ready?" I ask.

"Ready to get my memory wiped? Of course," he replies sarcastically.

Jason rolls his eyes. "As long as we don't die during any of the challenges, we can all make it out, even if we don't all win. And after we get out, you'll get your memory back, so don't worry."

"I'm still going to worry," Ty says, fiddling his thumbs. "I just have this feeling... like, I just _know_ this isn't going to end well..."

"You'll be fine," I assure him.

"Will _you_?"

"I- Yes. We all will be."

"How do you know?"

"It's a SkyBrine thing. I can see the future," I lie. Hey, if it'll ease his nervousness, why not?

He shrugs. "Alright, then..."

"Everyone ready?" I call out.

"Yup!" everyone but Ty replies.

"Remember the plan?"

"Yeah, but we'll forget as soon as he wipes our memories," Seto says, "so it's a pretty pointless plan."

"Well. If you do manage to keep your memory, remember to gather as much information about the GameMaster as you can," I say.

They all nod. "Got it."

"**Attention, players!"** a voice echoes around the room. **"You will be teleported to the 'Challenge Times Eight' entrance in ten seconds. Please prepare."**

Prepare? How?

_PIGGLEBIGGLEBOOMZAPBANGTSSSS!_

I glance around. There's a large, golden arch in front of me covered with neon green swirls. Eight feet to my right is a gray, soft-looking wall, and there's another wall eight feet to my left. I twist around to find another gray wall behind me, except this wall has a blood red door in the middle of it. Above the door are the words "CHALLENGE NUMBER ONE" in bright orange letters. I walk toward the door and pull on the iron handle, but I can't open it. It's locked.

I turn back around and realize the rest of the Team has spawned. Ty (where is his tail?) is staring in awe at the arch, which now has _glowing_ neon swirls all over it. Jason is running his hand across one of the gray walls, apparently liking how soft it is. Ian is poking one of Quentin's fins and wrinkling his nose at the sliminess. Mitch is petting Jerome's ears, and Seto is watching in amusement. He notices me watching him and walks over to me. "You aren't petting anyone and you don't look entirely confused, so can I assume that you still remember everything?" he asks.

I nod. "And I guess you do, too?"

"Yeah." He's silent for a bit. "Should we stop Ian..? Quentin looks pretty mad..."

"Nah, he's fine. He probably secretly likes it."

Seto raises an eyebrow. "Of course he does," he agrees sarcastically.

"**Welcome to 'Challenge Times Eight!'"** the voice booms over the room. **"I am your host, the GameMaster! Your first challenge will not take place until tomorrow, so you have the rest of the day to get to know each other and to build yourselves rooms in the Living Quarters using the unlimited blocks I have supplied for you. Have fun!"**

"Wait, where are the Living Quarters?" Ty asks, finally looking away from the golden arch.

"Let's go find 'em!" I shout, marching under the arch. As soon as I pass under it, a faint green glow covers my body. "Woah," I whisper, looking down at myself. "What is that?"

"**That's your gamemode being changed!" **the GameMaster suddenly shouts. I practically jump out of my skin in surprise.** "You are now capable of opening your inventory and finding an unlimited amount of every kind of block! Use your time wisely, as this power will only be available to you until the end of the day."**

"Oh, cool!" I cheer, opening my backpack. I pull out a block of budder. "YES! I HAVE BUDDER!"

"Uh, sir? That's gold," Ty informs me, looking at me as if I'm crazy.

I gasp. "TY, NO! I GET THAT YOU'VE BEEN STRIPPED OF YOUR MEMORY AND ALL, BUT THAT DOES NOT MAKE IT ACCEPTABLE TO CALL BUDDER 'G-O-L-D!'" I yell, shuddering at the sound of those cursed letters coming out of my mouth.

"U-Uh... Okay?" Ty responds, still looking at me like I'm mental.

"You promise to call it budder from now on?" I ask.

"Um... Yeah, sure," Ty agrees. Aw. He's cute when he's confused.

"Awesome! Now, come on, let's go find the Living Quarters so we can start building our rooms or whatever."

"Hold on, don't we need to introduce ourselves?" Jason asks.

Oh, right. They don't remember each other. "I'm Sky!" I call out.

"Jerome!"

"Mitch!"

"Ian!"

"Seto," Seto says, ignoring the rest of us and walking towards a tall building that looks like it could be the Living Quarters. Okay, then. Guess he's too excited to wait for the rest of the introductions. Well, maybe 'excited' isn't the word...

"Jason!"

"Quentin, and I'm NOT A _FISH_, FOR THE LAST TIME, IAN!" he yells as Ian pokes his fin again and whispers the word "fish."

"I'm Ty," Ty says quietly. Omigosh, too cute. He's all shy like he was when he first met Team Crafted.

I walk backwards so I'm standing by Ty. "Come on, you know each other now, so let's go!"

"We don't really know each other _well-_" Ty begins.

I cut him off. "We'll learn about each other while we're building our rooms. Let's _go!"_ Ty chuckles, and I grab his wrist and pull him towards the building Seto ran off to. Everyone else follows us.

The tall building is dark green, and it looks like it's made completely out of clay. It's about one hundred blocks away from the arch, and the area between the arch and the building is all grass. I sprint across the distance with Ty right beside me and the others about three blocks behind. "Last one to the building is a faulty spawn egg!" I shout, causing the others to run faster. Ty laughs and runs faster as well, and so do I.

We end up reaching the building at the exact same time, and thus getting stuck in the thin, one-block-wide door.

Seto smirks as he watches us all fight to get through the door first. "Really?"

I nod. "Really," I say seriously, pushing past Quentin to get inside. "WOO! I'M NOT A FAULTY SPAWN EGG!"

Jason gets through next. "Success!"

Ty squeezes through. "Woohoo!"

Jerome crawls between Mitch and Ian's legs, yelling "I'M THE TOP BAC!"

Mitch, Ian, and Quentin all fall through the door at the same time. "Butts," Quentin says. "Does that mean we're _all_ faulty spawn eggs?"

I nod. "Indeed it does. Now, time to get building!"

We all glance around the building. It's ceiling is sixteen blocks high, and there aren't any inside walls. "Are you guys okay with splitting the building into two floors and then having four people on each floor?" Seto asks.

Everyone nods their agreement. "I call first floor!" I yell. I want easy access to my room. Plus, I haz an idea...

"I'll take the second floor," Seto says.

"I want second floor, too!" Mitch shouts, pulling out a cobblestone stair block and starting on the construction of a small staircase.

"I'm going with Mitch!" Jerome says quickly. Lol, #Merome. If they still remembered what #Merome _is_, then I would be teasing them about it by now. Sadly, I will have to teach them about the ships all over again.

"I'll stay down here," Ty says quietly. #Skylox!? Probably not. I wish, though.

"I want first flo-" Jason starts.

"NOPE! NOPE, NOPE, NOPE! QUENTIN AND I WANT THE SAME FLOOR, AND SINCE THERE'S ONLY ONE SPOT OPEN ON THE SECOND FLOOR, THAT MEANS WE BOTH NEED SPOTS ON THE FIRST!" Ian shrieks, pushing Jason up the hastily made staircase.

"W-What!? No we don't!" Quentin argues. "I want to be as far away from you as possible!"

"Aw, come on, Fish, don't be like that!"

"I'm not a fish, I'm an amphibian!"

"FIESH!" I call out helpfully. Sort of helpfully.

Quentin glares at me.

"Okay, just so you two will be forced to be on the same floor, I'm taking the last second floor spot," Jason says.

Quentin grumbles something about "butts" and then plops down on the floor. "Someone build walls around me. I want a room so small that only one person can go inside at a time."

Ian frowns. "Oh, Quentin! I'm sorry! Okay, I'll admit, you're an amphibian. Now will you share a room with me?"

"WHAT!? I- NO!" Quentin screeches. "WE DID NOT AGREE TO THIS!"

"Can I agree to it _for_ him?" I ask. Quentin glares at me again. I shrug and smile sheepishly.

"Ian, you need to let Quentin have his own room," Ty says. Ty, nu! You're ruining the Ssunkipz! "Look, we'll make a three-block-wide hallway from the front door to the staircase, and then we'll split each side of the building in half so we all have the same size rooms. And so we all have our _own _rooms."

Quentin nods. "Sounds good."

_Eh, it's kind of boring-ish, but whatever. I've written the majority of this story already, I'm just splitting it into chapters now so I can post it._

_DUNZ WORRY, IT GETS SO MUCH BETTER._

_Thoughts on the Derp and the Fiesh?_

_(I'm fairly sure Quentin really _is_ secretly enjoying Ian's poking. AND I MEANT THAT IN THE MOST INNOCENT, FLUFFY WAY POSSIBLE.)_

_Thanks for the feedback on Chapter One, guys. I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH. You're gonna hate me though when we get farther into the story... MUAHAHAHAHA_

_Baiii, my be-ay-yoo-tiful Rulers!_


	3. Chapter 3

_Okay, so someone in the comments on wattpad... I think it was that_minecraft_girly. Anyways, she wanted me to update this daily, and I only update weekly. As you know, there's a big difference between daily and weekly, and now I feel really bad, so... I might POSSIBLY update TWICE on weekends. MAYBE. PROBABLY. POSSIBLY. HOPEFULLY. I DON'T KNOW. Thanks, though, for all the comments/review on fanfiction . net and wattpad, guys. I literally love you all so much. :) Anyways, take this boring chapter._

**Games**

**Ch 3: The G-Word**

Three hours later, we've all got our rooms built. Mine has walls and a floor of budder, a budder-colored bed, a budder-colored desk, and three budder-colored chairs surrounding a budder-colored TV.

It's missing something...

OH! BUDDER! THAT'S WHAT IT'S MISSING! I quickly place a random budder block in the middle of the room. Good, now it's perfect.

Okay, so you know that idea I was talking about earlier, the one that required that my room be on the first floor? Yeah, I went through with that. There's a staircase hidden beneath my budder bed, and it leads to a small underground 'lair' of sorts. It's basically just a room of budder with a large desk and some paper on it. Whenever I find out something new about the GameMaster, I'll write it down in this secret room. I also have a small glass tube in the corner of my secret room.

Wanna know why?

Well, I realized something while I was building my buddery room of budderiness. You see...

I still have my Skybrine powers.

I noticed this while decorating the secret room. I was placing torches everywhere, and I realized there was one spot in the room that just refused to light up. Out of habit, I pulled off my sunglasses and stared at the dark block in an attempt to light it up with my eyes. I forgot that, since I had been stripped of my powers when I entered the game, it wouldn't work.

But it worked.

I took out a glass block as quickly as possible and used it as a mirror. Sure enough, my eyes were still glowing; I guess my sunglasses kept everyone from noticing my eyes. They must have kept the GameMaster from noticing my eyes, too.

So, knowing that the GameMaster will eventually realize I still have my powers and then take them from me, I made a glass cylinder made specially to hold powers. I'm not going to explain that any more than I already have.

Now that my room is finished, I can check up on the others. I open the wooden door to my room and turn to the right. Ty's room is directly to the right of mine, and Ian's and Quentin's rooms are across from us. "Hey, Ty, you done yet?" I call, knocking on his door.

His door swings open. "Yeah, almost," he says in a quiet voice. Man, I'm really not used to Quiet Ty. It's like we've gone back in time to the week when we first met.

"Can I come in?"

"Sure." Ty steps back and allows me to enter, and, dude, his room is _awesome_. "Do you like it?"

"Do I _like _it!?" I spin around, taking in the glowing neon green and black checkered floor, the beautiful quartz walls, and the black and green furniture. "I love it! It's so... MAJESTIC!"

He giggles, smiling slightly. Aw. "Thanks. Can I see your room?"

I nod, saying "Of course," in a horrendously terrible British accent. Ty's smile widens, and he follows me to my room. "Welcome to Sky's Majestic Room of Budderiness."

Ty's eyes go wide as he glances around the room. "Oh, wow... That's a _lot_ of gold. It looks cool though."

I almost pass out then and there. "T-TY!" I screech, falling down dramatically on my budder-colored couch.

"What? What's wrong?" he asks worriedly.

I put my hand on my forehead and sigh loudly. "You... You've done the unspeakable!" _Again!_

"What? What did I do!?"

"You- You said the..." I lower my voice to a whisper. "The _g-word._"

"The g-word? What's that?" Ty asks.

"G-G... G-G-G... I can't say it! It's against my religion!"

"What? God? I didn't say that."

"No! G-gol... g... g-g-go... gol... I CAN'T DO IT! I CAN'T!"

"Oh, you mean 'gold?'"

"SETO!" I scream. Seto immediately runs down the stairs to my room.

"What is it? Is someone hurt? Did Ian try to-" He pauses, looking at my dramatically fallen form and Ty's confused expression. Then he sighs, looking at Ty. "You said the g-word, didn't you?"

"I don't see why it's such a big deal!" Ty shouts. "It's just gold!"

I wail loudly, rolling off the couch and onto the floor.

"He has this thing with..." Seto whispers, so I can't hear him (but I can), "gold." I glare at him, and he rolls his eyes. "He calls it budder."

"Why?"

"Be_cause,"_ I respond. "It's _budder_. Just call it what it is and we won't have a problem, buddy."

"But it's not budder, it's gol-" Ty begins.

Seto slaps his hand over Ty's mouth. "No. Don't say it. Sky only has so much self-control, don't go pushing your luck with the g-word."

Ty sighs and peels Seto's hand off his face. "Fine, I won't say it. Notch, you guys are all mental."

I sit up on the floor. "Oh, Ty! Don't say that, it's mean!"

Ty huffs. "Let me get this straight. I call you mental and you gently reprimand me, saying that it's mean. I call budder 'gold,' and suddenly you're dying on the floor. What?"

"HE SAID IT! HE SAID THE G-WORD!" I yell, covering my ears. "LALALALALALA!"

"JUST TELL ME WHY YOU HATE THE WORD 'GOLD' SO MUCH!"

"AHHH! HE SAID IT AGAIN! SETO, HELP, I THINK TY'S BEEN BRAINWASHED BY THE SQUIDS!"

Seto sighs and walks over to me. "Sorry, Ty," he apologizes, though I don't know what for. _Ty_'s the one saying _the word._ "Sky is weird sometimes. I have a feeling you guys would be best friends if you'd stop saying 'gold,' though."

"SETO! NO, NOT YOU, TOO! THE SQUIDS ARE GETTING TO EVERYONE!" I shriek.

Seto rolls his eyes. "Sorry, Sky, but this is for your own good." Then his fist is flying at my head, and I'm collapsing on the ground, for real this time.

**xXx**

I groan and slowly sit up, rubbing my head. "What..."

"Sky!" Ty exclaims, getting up out of a buddery chair and speed-walking toward the couch I'm lying on. "You're awake!"

"Uh, yeah... What happened?"

"Seto knocked you out after you went crazy about me saying... budder. You looked like you took the hit pretty hard, but Seto said you'd be fine. Still, I wanted to make sure you were okay, so I stayed with you... You know you've been out for four and a half hours now?"

My eyes widen. "What? Well, actually, I'm not surprised. Seto sometimes forgets how powerful he is. He also often forgets how intolerant I am to life in general. He could probably just poke me in the head and I'd pass out." Ty laughs. "Thanks for staying with me though." I try to stand up and instead end up falling back down on the couch. "Oh, my head..."

Ty sits down next to me, getting up on his knees so he can look at my head. "Don't move too much," he instructs as he tilts my head around, separating the hair slightly. "You've got a huge bump on the right side of your head. That's gonna hurt for a few days."

I sigh. "It's okay."

He smiles sympathetically. "I'm sorry."

"Hey, don't be. Seto's the one who punched me, right?" I chuckle.

Ty frowns. "Yeah, but I'm the one who made you mad... That's why Seto had to knock you out."

"You didn't make me mad, Ty. I'm just kind of insanely obsessed with budder. It's definitely not healthy. Seto probably expected me to start gathering supplies for an attack on the squids soon if someone didn't calm me down. And knocking someone unconscious is a pretty good way to calm them down, in my opinion."

"So if I started going crazy and you needed to calm me down, you'd just punch me?"

"No. I'd get Seto to punch you."

"I thought you said Seto didn't know his own strength? Wouldn't it hurt more to have Seto hit me than it would to have _you_ hit me?"

"Maybe, but I wouldn't be able to hit you."

"Why not?"

Snap. What do I do? I'm not sure how he'd respond to 'Because I'm deeply in love with you and have been for several years now.' Uh... "Because I'm a nice person," I cover up. Okay, yeah, that works. Niceness.

"Hmph. Well, a nice person would want me to hurt less, right?"

"Kay, fine, I'd get Ian or Quentin or Jason to do it."

"Why not Mitch or Jerome?"

"'Cause they're PVP masters. And they're idiots."

"Oh." He's silent for a moment. "So how do you and Seto know each other? No one else seems to have any idea who anyone else is..."

"What if I told you that we used to be best friends, all of us, but then we signed up for a game show that erased everyone's memories but mine and Seto's?"

"... I'd call Seto and tell him you're going crazy again."

"What if he confirmed what I said?"

"... Is that _really_ what happened?" Ty asks.

I nod. "Yup."

"Well, that sucks," Ty groans, laying his head on the back of the couch. "Were Ian and Quentin dating before we all lost our memories?"

"No, but they should have been."

"Were Mitch and Jerome?"

I laugh. "No, neither were they, but, just like Ian and Quentin, they _should_ have been."

Ty smiles. Then he frowns, looking worried. "Will the dude who erased our memories be mad that you _told_ us he erased our memories?"

"Um... I hope not?"

"**ATTENTION, PLAYERS! BUILDING TIME IS UP! PLEASE MAKE ANY LAST MINUTE ADJUSTMENTS TO YOUR ROOMS. WHEN YOU ARE DONE, EXIT THE LIVING QUARTERS AND ENTER THE BUILDING NEXT DOOR,"** the GameMaster's voice screams over some invisible intercom.

"YOU DON'T HAVE TO YELL!" I screech.

"**NEITHER DO YOU!"**

I roll my eyes. "Fine, be that way," I mutter, standing up slowly. I groan at the intense headache that comes with standing. Geez, Seto, I really hate you right now.

Ty's eyes widen. "Sky, you're not supposed to move a lot!" He stands up next to me and puts his arm around my waist, balancing me and letting me put some of my weight on him.

Seto, I really love you right now.

**xXx**

_Okay, so yeah, it's a little boring right now. But the drama is coming soon!_

_And, luckily for you, I will most-likely never skip an update on this story, because I've got most of it already written. So that's good, right? The story's moving slowly, but it's still moving!_

_*sigh* Ever so slowly..._

_Baiii._


	4. Chapter 4

**Games**

**Ch 4: PAX ME, BRO**

"**Welcome!"**

"You already said that."

"**SKY! You will treat me with respect from here on out, for I am... THE GAMEMASTER!"**

"No, I will treat you with resentment from here on out, for I am... SKYDOESMINECRAFT!"

Ty nudges my shoulder. "Dude, cut it out. Don't make an enemy of the most powerful person here."

"I WILL NEVER BACK DOWN!"

"**ARE YOU CHALLENGING ME?"**

Ty elbows me in the stomach. I cough, but then regain my composure and respond to the GameMaster. "YES! PAX ME, BRO!"

Ty tackles me to the ground before I can hurl myself at the GameMaster.

"Uh, s-sorry, Mr. GameMaster. Sky is... uh, well, he's Sky," Ty apologizes, sitting on my torso to keep me pinned to the ground. I growl at him, but he ignores me.

The GameMaster smirks at my fallen position, and I glare at him. He's seated on a large throne made of budder and red wool. There's a red carpet leading from the throne to the door of the building we're in, which is a small emerald room right next to the Living Quarters. There's really nothing in here except for the throne.

"**Now that this qat has been restrained, I will explain to you the rules of 'Challenge Times Eight.'"**

"Did he just call me a _qat_?" I ask quietly. Ty shrugs, giving me the 'don't-even-question-it' face.

"**First of all, there are no 'powers' allowed in this game other than mine."**

Lol, you suck at enforcing rules, GameMaster, 'cause I gotz mah powahs right here.

"**Sky, I must ask why your eyes are glowing."**

Notch dang it.

Ty gently tugs my sunglasses off and is met by my uber bright eyes. "Ack! What the ever-loving Jeb is wrong with your eyes, Sky!?"

"Uh... Right. I'm, um... Technically, my name isn't Sky, it's Sky_brine_..," I reply hesitantly.

"Skybrine!? Like, Herobrine's son?" Ty asks with wide eyes, scrambling off and away from me.

I frown. No, don't be scared of me, I'm not like my father at all! "Can someone explain to him the situation with my dad?" I ask, glancing around at my friends.

They all look at me with terrified expressions. "Are you going to suck out our souls or possess us or-" Jerome starts rambling.

I sigh, trying to feign annoyance as a cover-up for my hurt. "Fine. Seto, could _you_ explain?"

Seto nods, sending me a sympathetic look. "Sky's father, Herobrine, was thrilled when He managed to spawn himself a son. He wanted to raise Sky so that Sky could cast terror across the OverWorld, should He ever die. Sky, however, hated Herobrine's ways and would sneak out of the Nether as often as possible to try to associate with 'normal' people. He met Team Crafted- or, at least, what would soon be Team Crafted. That's us, guys," he says, waving his hands at all our friends. "He and Ty became best friends pretty quickly, and then Sky, Ty, and I decided to make Team Crafted. You all joined almost immediately.

"Then trouble came. Herobrine was worried that his son was turning out to be too nice, so he brought Sky on a trip to the OverWorld and... He found a random group of people and told Sky to murder them, then and there.

"Only the group of people was _us._ So of course Sky couldn't just _kill_ us. He refused. Then Herobrine got mad, threatened to lock Sky in the Nether Fortress forever, torture him for eternity if he wouldn't attack us.

"And Sky, being the smart person he is," Seto says sarcastically, rolling his eyes, "refused again, in the worst way possible."

"I believe I said something along the lines of 'I hate you and you smell like decaying bunny rabbits,'" I add as I stand up and brush myself off.

Seto nods grimly. "Yeah. Then your dad got insanely angered and tried to kill us all, and we teamed up with our powers to push Him back to the Nether. Long story short, Sky's nothing like his father."

Ty glances warily at me. "Are you sure..?"

Wow, Ty. That hurts.

"Yes, I'm sure," Seto says quickly, somehow seeming to sense my pain.

Several of my friends sigh with relief. "Thank goodness," Jason breathes. "For a second there, I thought you were going to kill us all!"

I roll my eyes. "Gee, Jason, thanks for trusting me," I say sarcastically.

He grins sheepishly. "Sorry, dude. But, I mean, your eyes are glowing... It's kinda scary. You could have told us that when you first met us."

"Sorry," I mutter. "I forgot you didn't know." And I didn't think it'd matter that much.

"**Well, that's nice and all. I'd like to know how you kept your powers, though, even after entering the 'Challenge Times Eight' grounds,"** the GameMaster wonders aloud, staring at me with unblinking eyes.

I never described the GameMaster, did I? Well, I guess I'll do that now. He wears a white and gray robe with weird little patterns all over it. His irises are neon red, and his pupils are blood-red. He has shockingly white hair with bits of gray in it, and I can't tell if he's extremely old or if that's just how he likes his hair to look. Under his untied robe is a gray shirt and gray pants that hang over his black shoes. His nose is sort of pointy, and his skin is pale. His lips are in a permanent frown.

I don't like it when he looks at me. It's creepy.

I shiver involuntarily as he eyes me, waiting for an answer. "I-I, uh... I d-don't know..," I get out.

"Perhaps you made a mistake when setting up the game, Mr. GameMaster." Yes! Seto to the rescue!

"**I DO NOT MAKE MISTAKES!"** the GameMaster booms.

"CHILL OUT, MAN! I HAVE EARS, YOU KNOW!" I scream.

Ty elbows me in the stomach again. "Cut. It. Out," he growls quietly.

"**You would do well to listen to your friend, there,"** the GameMaster advises me. **"He seems to actually have a brain."**

"I'm surprised you noticed, you know, since _you_ don't have any brains at all," I say under my breath. He doesn't hear me.

"**Skybrine, please step forward and release your powers so that they may be held until the end of the competition."**

"Kay, first of all, don't call me Skybrine. My name is Sky now. And second, what happens to my powers if I die during the games?"

"**I'll call you what I want, Skybrine. And if you fail the competition and end up dying, I will receive full control of your powers."**

One more reason not to die, I guess. But it doesn't really matter, anyways, since I have my little power-holder-thingy. "Fine. Whatever. How do we do this thing?"

"**Repeat after me. _I release my powers into the holding chamber. I do this willingly and consciously._"**

Here 'goes.

* * *

><p><em>asdfjdslgjdasf it's so boring good Notch alfsdkjf;dslkjf why are you guys even reading this asldkfjughu uhgh <em>

_BUT GUESS WHAT_

_NEXT CHAPTER CONTAINS DRAMA_

_SO. MUCH. DRAMA._

_YOU WILL PROBABLY DIE AT LEAST TWICE DURING CHAPTER FIVE._

_OMIGOSH I JUST CAN'T WAIT._

_BUT IT GETS EVEN BETTER AFTER THAT._

_OMIGOSH._

_I'M SO EXCITED._

_OKBAII._

_I'M JUST GONNA GO ROCK BACK IN A CORNER WHILE I WAIT FOR NEXT SATURDAY TO COME SO I CAN POST AGAIN._

_OH WAIT ACTUALLY I'LL JUST POST NAO._

_YEAH_


	5. Chapter 5

_**WARNING: **This chapter contains overwhelming amounts of feels. Kay, well, not quite overwhelming. We're not _that_ far into the story yet. This chapter also contains intense pain for one of the characters, so... you've been warned. It's nothing gory though, so don't freak out too much._

**Games**

**Ch 5: The Rules**

"_I release my powers into my budder chamber. I do this willingly and consciously._" I say, mumbling the part I changed (I did the spell differently so my power would be transferred to my buddery glass chamber thing instead of wherever the GameMaster keeps the powers) so no one notices that I changed it.

Then yellow light is drawn out of my eyes and toward the door of the building. Black splotches dance across my vision, and I sink to the floor as the pain overtakes my body. It feels as if someone is dragging a knife across my limbs while carving patterns into my face and torso. And my eyes burn. You know how your eyes will start to hurt if you stay up all night or forget to blink for a while? Well, take that pain and then multiply it by 100, and that's how much my eyes are burning.

"Sky!" Ty shouts worriedly, dropping to his knees next to me and hugging me close to him. He glances at the GameMaster. "What'd you do to him?" he growls.

"**Calm down, he's fine. It's just going to take him a few minutes to get used to the loss of power,"** the GameMaster explains. I let out a shaky breath as I try to regain my composure. **"Now that that small glitch in the system has been taken care of, I will inform you of rule number two: When in the Living Quarters and the Yard, we are all mature beings. We will not murder each other, seriously injure each other, or act idiotically." **

By the time he's finished speaking, I've managed to sit up straight. Ty glances worriedly at me, but I brush him off with a reassuring smile. I'm okay now.

"**The creation and use of new words is categorized as an idiotic act."** The GameMaster stretches out his hand toward me and chants something in a whisper, and ten seconds later, I'm shaking as I try to recover from the jolt of electricity that just ran through my body.

Ty is next to me again, and now so is Jason, and they're both clinging onto my arms and sending worried glances at each other and me. "What the heck?" Jason asks, turning to face the GameMaster.

"**He violated rule number two earlier today by using the made-up word 'budder' to address gold."**

"Technically, budder is indeed a word," Seto corrects the GameMaster. That's probably not a good idea, Seto. "Spelled B-U-D-D-E-R, it's actually a type of drug."

"**But Skybrine meant it as the made-up word used to replace the word 'gold.' Therefore, it is still a violation of rule two,"** the GameMaster tells us. Right.

"But-" I begin.

"**Rule number three: No one argues with or rebels against me, the GameMaster." **He flicks his wrist toward me, and then flames are jumping up around me as I screech in pain. Jason and Ty jump away from the fire, and then the flames quickly die down. Surprisingly, I seem to be unharmed, but my entire body still burns with the scorching heat of the fire. My breathing is heavy and ragged as I lie flat on the floor, closing my eyes for a few seconds to try to regain my bearings. **"I warned you at the beginning of the meeting,"** the GameMaster says in an 'I-told-you-so' voice, **"and so did your friend there."**

"**Rule number four," **the GameMaster begins. At this point, Jason and Ty are both standing in front of me protectively, and Mitch and Jerome are inching toward us. **"I was originally planning on telling this one only to Seto and Skybrine, but Skybrine kind of ruined that. Rule number four is 'If your memory is still intact, do not inform the other players that theirs are not.' Thanks a lot for telling Ty about the memory wipes, Skybrine."**

The GameMaster whispers something while glaring at me, and then it feels like ice is creeping through my veins. I shiver and back up slightly as if the pain would subside if I was farther from the GameMaster. Sadly, the pain doesn't stop at all, and I'm left hugging myself for warmth as the piercing, paralyzing cold creeps up my body. As soon as it reaches my nose, it disappears, and then I just sit here, rocking back and forth and hugging my knees.

"Dude! Why do you keep focusing these things on Sky?" Ty asks angrily.

The GameMaster shrugs, smiling slightly. **"It's not my fault he keeps breaking the rules."**

"He didn't even know the rules before he broke them!"

"**Are you arguing with me?"**

Ty looks like he's about to say 'yes' and go total battle mode on this guy, but then I elbow him in the stomach just like he did to me, and he sets his jaw and resorts to glaring at the GameMaster.

The GameMaster nods approvingly.** "Good. Now, rule number five." **Mitch and Jerome stand in front of me while Jason and Ty stand on either side of me. Quentin and Ian are slowly side-stepping toward us, and Seto's full attention is focused on the GameMaster. Seto's a wizard, he probably knows that standing in front of me won't protect me in the slightest.

"Guys, I'm fine," I say quietly, trying to stand up.

The GameMaster huffs. **"Skybrine! Do you never learn? One of the biggest rules while in the company of any person of authority, and rule number five: When I am speaking, no one else is!" **I wince, tensing as I prepare myself for whatever method of torture he chooses to use next, but nothing happens.

"Uh..."

And then I'm crying out as I collapse on the ground again. Invisible needles prick every bit of my body, and I scratch at my skin even though there's nothing there. Ty's eyes widen, and he tries to hold my hands still so I won't scratch my skin so much that it bleeds. He succeeds, but barely. By the time the spell wears off, my skins is bright red in the places where I was itching it, and I am exhausted.

"Stop!" Ty shouts. "Can't you at least tell us all the rules before you punish him for breaking them?"

The GameMaster glares at him. **"Rule number three: No rebelling against or arguing with the GameMaster."** He starts to cast some sort of spell on Ty, but I jump to my feet. Ow. Ow, wowowow.

"Wait! He's not arguing with you, he's just politely suggesting something that could potentially make your show better!" I say, pulling Ty closer to me. Ty shakes slightly with fear.

The GameMaster turns his gaze to me. **"It sounded like arguing to me."**

"It wasn't, I promise you it wasn't!" I insist.

"**Rule number three,"** the GameMaster says. **"Do not argue with me."** Then he's waving his hand towards me, and I'm convulsing in pain again. It pretty much feels like someone inserted a bunch of tiny blades into my bloodstream. It's like being stabbed, but from the inside.

Ty pulls me down to the ground, wrapping his arms around me protectively and letting me rest my head against his shoulder as I recover. He doesn't say anything.

The GameMaster narrows his eyes at us. **"You two are awfully protective of each other, aren't you?"**

Ty groans. "Please tell me that's not against one of the rules."

"**No,"** the GameMaster assures us, grinning cruelly, **"but it'll make for a really good show." **

Oh, Notch.

"**Rule number six: Everyone is required to attend all Challenges unless told otherwise."** Good, I think that's one rule I haven't broken. Yet. **"Rule number seven: All rules are void during Challenges, of which there are only eight. Rules still apply during mini-challenges."** That's cool, I guess. **"And rule number eight: I reserve the right to create rules at any given time." **Oh, wow, _that_'s fair.

"**Return to the Living Quarters, get some rest. You'll need it. The first Challenge starts tomorrow. The winner of each Challenge gets three points, and we'll add up the points at the end of the show. Sleep well!"** The GameMaster disappears in a puff of smoke.

Wow.

I carefully haul myself to my feet, bringing Ty with me and then leaning on him for support. Notch, I am _drained_. "Thanks," I say quietly to Ty.

"Ditto," he responds.

"You okay there?" Seto asks me, jogging over to us. "All limbs intact, still mentally capable of standard math?"

"Uh..."

"What's eleven plus seven?"

"... Eleventy-seven?"

Seto nods, whereas everyone else looks at me with varying levels of concern. "Yeah, he's perfectly fine."

Ty doesn't seem to believe Seto. He puts his arm around my waist with the excuse of helping me walk, and then he leads me toward my buddery room.

* * *

><p><em>WOOHOO! Drama!<em>

_WAIT GUYS DON'T LEAVE YET I HAVE SOMETHING IMPORTANT TO TELL YOU_

_I'm gonna post this on all my books because it's the most important thing you'll ever hear/read, like, ever._

_Here it is:_

_Defenestration (noun): the act of throwing someone or something out of a window_

_It's a legit word, guys, go look it up. XD_

_K, baii! Have a perfect day, Rulers!_


	6. Chapter 6

_**WARNING:** This chapter contains an angry mudkip. :3_

**Games**

**Ch 6: The Ssunkipz Room**

"Hey, Sky, you awake?"

I sit up slowly in my budder-colored bed, rubbing my eyes and yawning. "I am now."

"Are you feeling well enough to sneak over to Ian's and Quentin's rooms?" Ty whispers.

"Uh... I guess so," I reply sleepily, stumbling out of bed.

Ty shushes me. "Dude, shut up, we're going on a stealth mission."

"Why?"

"It's 11:30, technically not midnight yet. The GameMaster did say earlier that our building time was up, but he also said at the beginning of the day that we would have our 'infinite-blocks' powers until the end of the day." He pauses, pulling a diamond pickaxe out of his backpack and wiggling his eyebrows. "And we do. So, we're gonna sneak over to Quentin's and Ian's side of the hallway and destroy the wall that separates their rooms."

My eyes light up, thought not nearly as brightly as they ever were when I still had my Skybrine powers. "Hashtag Ssunkipz?"

Ty tilts his head in confusion.

"That's Ian and Quentin's ship name."

"Ohhh," he says, giggling. "Then, yes. Hashtag Ssunkipz."

**xXx**

"ACK!" Quentin yells. Looks like someone woke up. Last night, Ty and I deleted the wall between Quentin's and Ian's rooms and pushed their beds together. Oh, yes. Ssunkipz forever.

"Fish?" Ian asks.

"OMINOTCH, NO, JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!"

"But you're a _cute_ fish."

I peek out of my bedroom to see Quentin stomping out of the door that used to lead to his room but now leads to the room that Quentin and Ian share. "Who the Nether is responsible for that?" he asks, pointing behind himself at the bedroom.

Seto, Mitch, Jerome, and Jason walk downstairs slowly, rubbing their eyes tiredly. "Responsible for what?" Jason yawns.

"For the room thing!"

"What room thing?"

"Someone mined the wall between our rooms," Quentin groans. Ian slips out the door to stand next to him, but then he backs away slightly when Quentin glares at him. Aw, poor Ian.

"Let me see," Mitch says sleepily, dragging his feet over to the Ssunkipz room. "Oh, wow. The beds are even pressed together."

"Hashtag Ssunkipz for life," I mumble, grinning.

"Sky..?" Seto begins, looking at me curiously. "Did you..."

"Okay, it wasn't _entirely_ my fault. Ty and I did it _together_."

Quentin groans again, throwing his head back in exasperation. "I hate you both," he grumbles, sulking back into the room. Ian follows him with his eyes and then flicks his attention back to me when Quentin is out of view.

"Is Ty even up yet?" Ian asks.

"I don't think so," I reply. "So, like, do you just not care that we hacked out the wall separating you and Quentin's rooms?"

He shrugs, a barely visible blush covering his cheeks and the tips of his ears. "I care, just... not as much as Quentin. Or maybe I just care for a different reason."

I smile. "Hey, Ian, can I talk to you?" I ask, motioning for him to come into my room. He nods, looking confused. The others yawn and stumble back up the stairs to their rooms.

"What is it?" Ian asks as I gently close my bedroom door and pull him over to my budder couch.

"Alright, be honest here. If you lie, I'll probably call you out on it, since I'm pretty sure I already know the answer to this question," I say quickly. "Do you like Quentin? And don't you dare say something stupid like, 'Yeah, he's a cool guy.' I want to know if you _like-_like him." Oh, wow, I sound like a middle school girl. This is bad.

Ian's blush gets deeper and easier to see. "M-Maybe just a little..."

I raise an eyebrow, giving him the 'oh-really' look.

He sighs. "Okay, so maybe I actually like him a _lot_. So what?"

"So, this is great! Hashtag Ssunkipz is half-canon!"

"What?"

"Uh, nothing." I'm too lazy to explain. "I think Quentin secretly likes you back."

Ian scoffs. "Yeah, right. Did you see his reaction to the joined room thing? He practically hates me."

"No, he doesn't. He pretends to hate everyone who calls him a fish, not just you in particular. Actually, I think the excessive complaining towards you calling him a fish is just a cover-up for his feelings for you." Yup, my inner middle school girl is completely taking over now.

"Maybe..," Ian says, his voice falling to a whisper. "But I doubt it."

I smile sympathetically. "Don't take anything he says to heart, Ian. He's a stubborn fish, and he says a lot of things he doesn't mean."

"Should I take it to heart if he tells me he loves me?"

I grin, laughing slightly. "If he tells you he loves you, which I seriously doubt he will do without someone pushing him to be bold, then you should take those words to your heart, lock them up, and keep them there forever."

Ian smiles, standing up and moving towards the door. "Thanks, Sky."

"Hey, no problem. I love playing Matchmaker!" I joke, walking him to the door.

He laughs and waves to me as he walks over to his own room – well, the room that Quentin and he share. Ty peeks out of his bedroom. "Are the angry lovers gone?" he asks quietly.

I giggle. "Only one of them was angry, and he stormed back into his room a long time ago."

"Good. We'd better be seeing some Ssunkipz soon."

"**PLEASE REPORT TO THE SPAWN AREA!"** the GameMaster's voice booms.

I exhale slowly, holding my hands over my ears. "Every time," I whisper.

Ty shrugs. "You yell a lot, too. Now you know how we all feel."

I sigh. "Well, I guess we should hurry up and get dressed and then run over to the spawn."

"Mkay. I'll see you in a second!" Ty says, darting back into his room.

**xXx**

_Whoops, short chapter. I can't really do anything about it, though, cause when I wrote this, I wrote it all in one big document. I didn't bother with checking the word count every few paragraphs. Therefore, there are no chapter breaks. I have to go through and find a place that would be a good stopping point, and sometimes it's really hard. For example, the end of chapter five? I would have loved to combine five with six, but then it would have been too long, so I had to add that "Here 'goes" in an attempt to make it sound like a legitimate chapter ending._

_*sigh* My life is hard._

_Baiii!_


	7. Chapter 7

**Games**

**Ch 7: Challenge One**

All of Team Crafted stands in the weird gray room where we spawned. Ty's attention is mostly focused on that budder arch, and the others are all staring apprehensively at the red door with the sign that says "CHALLENGE NUMBER ONE." I'm just watching everyone. Shh, it's not creepy. I'm being observant.

There's a puff of smoke beneath the budder arch, and then the GameMaster is standing there, glancing at all of us. **"Welcome to your first challenge!"** he says, grinning wickedly. **"Behind that door is a long strip of nether bricks which you will have to cross in order to reach the nether stars at the other end of the room. You have only eight minutes to get there. It is a race, but the first to reach their star might not end up the winner. There are sea lanterns scattered across the room as well, and for each one you touch, a point is added to your score for this challenge. Mobs, both hostile and passive, will spawn randomly around the room, as will different items. If you die inside the Challenge Room, you will not respawn. Ready? GO!"**

Everyone rushes to the door, flinging it open and sprinting inside. Well, everyone but me. I just walk casually to the door, since I'm not in any hurry. I don't want to win. I just want to survive.

I want my friends to survive, too.

"Guys!" I call out as we enter the Challenge Room. "Don't do anything too dangerous, okay? Winning isn't worth your life!"

Seto nods his agreement, but Mitch and Jerome are already running down the three-block-wide nether brick path, shoving each other playfully and laughing. Five blocks below either side of the path are several small hills of netherrack with sea lanterns at their peaks. Mitch jumps off the path onto the left side, and Jerome jumps onto the right, and they both take off toward sea lanterns. A small smile creeps onto my face at their competitiveness.

Then Magma cubes spawn in front of them both, and they shriek and dart to the side, dodging other mobs as they spawn. An iron sword spawns right on Mitch's head, and he snatches it quickly and starts stabbing at the mobs. Then a diamond axe – oh, wow, that's convenient – spawns right next to him, and he picks it up. "Jerome!" he shouts, tossing the axe to his friend.

Ian jumps on Quentin's back, shouting, "ONWARDS, MY TRUSTY FISH!" Quentin sighs in exasperation, but I catch what looks like a smile twitching at the corners of his lips as he takes off down the path with Ian on his back.

"Aw, man. No one else is animal-related, we don't have anyone to ride," Jason pouts. Then a cow spawns in front of him, and his eyes light up. "WOO!" he shouts, jumping on the cow's back and slapping its behind to make it sprint down the path with a loud 'moo.'

Ty giggles. "I guess we should get going. Everyone else is way ahead of us."

I snort. "Are you kidding? That's way too much physical exertion for me. I am not moving an inch."

Ty rolls his eyes and grabs my hand, tugging me toward the path. "Come on, Sky, let's go!"

Seto smirks at me as a light blush covers my cheeks. Then he takes off down the path, quickly jumping down to the netherrack and dashing toward a sea lantern.

"Okay, okay, I'm coming!" I say, finally starting to move my feet after Ty.

"Yes! Success!" he cheers, and I laugh. "Come on, let's go toward that hill on the right, and then we can just work our way toward the end of the path where the nether star is."

I nod and run after him as he heads toward the first sea lantern. He lightly taps it with his hand when we get there, whereas I kick the thing with all the anger I can muster. "Woah. Angry much?" Ty asks, eyes wide.

"It's like a therapy. When I feel like I want to strangle the GameMaster, I'll just vandalize some part of the Challenges."

He shrugs. "Hey, if it works, it works." He grabs my hand again and pulls me toward the next sea lantern. As we run, a creeper spawns in front of Ty. He jumps back in shock, but the creeper is already flashing white. Luckily, a budder sword chooses that moment to spawn right in my hand, and I immediately shove it through the creeper's head. "Heh, thanks, Sky."

"No problem," I respond, grabbing his right hand with my left and dragging him toward the next sea lantern. Five seconds later, a ghast spawns literally two feet in front of me, and my eyes widen in fear as it flies out of reach of my sword, opening its mouth to blast a fireball at me. Before it can fire, though, an arrow pierces it's forehead. The ghast screeches in pain and disappears in a puff of white smoke, and I spin around to see Ty grinning at me with a bow in his hand and five arrows sticking out of his pocket. "Uh, wow. Thanks."

"No problem," he laughs, running ahead of me toward the next sea lantern.

We manage to hit three more lanterns, laughing and joking the whole way, before Seto calls our names. "SKY! TY!" he yells. "You have twenty seconds to get to these nether stars!" Oh. Whoops. Ty and I were having so much fun, I guess we didn't realize the others had already finished.

I glance at the distance between the end of the room and Ty and I. "Eh, there's no way we'll make it in time, we might as well just stay here."

"**I forgot to tell you that the entire room, save for the finishing area, will burst into flames when the countdown hits zero,"** the GameMaster's voice informs us.

"SNAP." I grab Ty's hand and start sprinting toward the finish, even though I'm 99% sure we won't make it.

Rather conveniently, a pig spawns in front of us at the same time that a saddle spawns in my hand. I laugh and shove the saddle onto the pig's back before pushing Ty onto the pig and getting on behind him. "Mush, Pig, mush!" The pig doesn't move. "Dang it."

A fishing rod with a carrot attached to it spawns on Ty's head. I giggle and take it down, giving it to him. "Oh, wow," Ty murmurs. "Luck is on our side." He holds the stick out in front of the pig. The pig, seeing the carrot, runs forward, getting increasingly frustrated as it fails to catch the carrot. Ty and I are nothing but a pile of laughs when we fall off the pig and into the finishing area. I catch my breath long enough to grab two nether stars and shove one into Ty's hand.

We glance at each other before doubling over in laughter again.

"**Congratulations! You have all completed your first Challenge," **the GameMaster says as everything in the room except for the finishing platform that Team Crafted is standing on bursts into flames. **"Ty and Skybrine, you touched the most sea lanterns."** Ty and I high-five, unable to do anything else since we're still consumed by laughter. **"However, you finished last, in case you hadn't noticed, and that will take away from your final score for this challenge."**

"Darn it," I choke out. Ty laughs harder at the sound of my voice, and then I start laughing again. The rest of the Team give us judgmental looks, and I laugh harder at the confusion in their eyes.

"**Mitch and Jerome, you got the second most sea lanterns. Both of you were only one lantern behind Ty and Skybrine. You also finished first, so your scores are higher than the scores of the others. You are tied for first place." **Mitch and Jerome cheer.

"**Now for the tie-breaker. Choose a number between one and one-thousand. The player closest to without going over the number I have selected will win the Challenge."**

"Sixty-nine!" they shout simultaneously.

The GameMaster sighs. **"Fine. You are tied for first place. You each receive three points. Congratulations. Now go home."**

"Home?" Jason asks.

"**To the Living Quarters,"** the GameMaster corrects himself.

"Uh, hello? One problem," I say. "The nether brick path that leads back to the door is, uh, on fire..."

"**So walk through the fire."**

"That is the worst idea I have ever heard."

"**Are you arguing with me _again_, Skybrine?"**

"No!" I squeak, shrinking back. Ty squeezes my hand reassuringly.

"**Then walk through the fire."**

I watch as the pig that Ty and I were riding wanders off the finishing platform and into the fire.

He goes up in flames, and a few seconds later, all that's left are some cooked pork chops.

"U-Uh... O-Okay..," I say, swallowing hard. "Let's do this, then."

"You're not seriously going to try it, are you?" Ty asks, tugging on my sleeve and looking at me with wide eyes.

I shrug. "Why not? If it's the only way back... And, hey, maybe if we run quickly enough, the fire won't hurt us. You know, like when you pass your finger over a candle really quickly, and you don't even feel anything."

"The flames are mostly red and orange, anyways," Seto says, "and blue and white are the hottest colors. So... It shouldn't be _too_ bad."

"LEZZGO!" Mitch shouts, running toward the flames.


	8. Chapter 8

**Games**

**Ch 8: STEP AWAY FROM THE BOOK**

I fall down on my budder bed and sigh. "Can we just agree to never ever do that ever again?" I ask the Team. They're all congregated in my room.

"Yes. Definitely. Totally," Ian breathes, still recovering from the pain and shock of running through fire. Strangely, we are completely unharmed, but we're still burning hot.

"Is the fish okay? I hear fish need water to survive. And, you know, fire is not water," I say, looking at Quentin out of the corner of my eye. He doesn't even bother retaliating, just leans back on the budder couch and sighs.

"I'm okay," he mumbles. "Are all of you?"

He gets several responses, most of which are some form of 'yes.' One answer, though, is different. "What the Nether is... Sky? What's under your bed? It looks like-"

I roll off the bed and clamp my hand over Ty's mouth. "We will talk about that later, just you and me. For now, let's go get something to eat. I'm starving."

The others, save for Ty, nod in agreement and stumble toward the door, muttering about whether or not the GameMaster will even allow them to eat. Ty looks at me expectantly. "Okay, um... So I may or may not have..." I lower my voice to a whisper, afraid that the GameMaster is somehow listening in on our conversation. At the last moment, I decide to cover my mouth with my hand as well, in case there are cameras nearby that the GameMaster can read my lips with. "I sort of created a secret room beneath my bedroom. And I sort of kind of maybe might have built a special chamber to store my powers in."

Ty's eyes widen in realization. "So... So you could go get them back at any given time?"

Sort of. I just nod.

"Yes! The GameMaster has nothing on you!"

"Shh! He might be listening. And just because I have access to my powers now doesn't mean I will later. I can only get them back if I walk down into the secret room and transfer them to my soul again. If I'm in the middle of a Challenge, far away from my secret room, I won't have the choice to transfer my powers back, at least not at that moment," I whisper.

Ty nods. "Oh, okay. But, still..."

I grin. "Yeah. Okay, let's go get food."

We walk out into the hallway, where everyone is crowded around a book. Well, not quite everyone – Seto is leaning against the wall and sighing in exasperation. "Guys, if you could just let me-"

"No! No, we'll get it soon!" Jerome insists, staring intently at the book.

Seto sighs again and glances over at Ty and me. "I think they forgot how to read..," he explains.

I roll my eyes. "GUYS! STEP AWAY FROM THE BOOK," I shout.

They jump at the sound of my loud voice right by their ears, and they all quickly back away. "Sky! Come on, man, you don't have to yell!" Jason says.

"If the GameMaster's allowed to yell, then _I_'m allowed to yell," I say simply, picking up the book that they dropped when they backed away. "'Every day at six AM, twelve PM, and seven PM, a buffet of food will spawn in the purple building beside the Living Quarters. The food will despawn an hour after spawning.'"

I flip the page. "And here it says... 'Try not to die.'" I turn the page. Blank, it's blank. There's nothing else.

"What does that mean?" Quentin asks.

I shrug. "I dunno. Let's go locate this purple building and find out."

I walk through the door, and the others follow me. The building, made of purple clay, is huge, and it's directly to the right of the Living Quarters. Either we didn't see it earlier, by some feat of distraction, or our brains didn't care enough to register it. Or, I guess it's possible that the GameMaster decided to plop down this random purple building next to the Living Quarters.

I carefully open the birch wood door and step inside, expecting the worst. Any second now, something bad is going to happen. A thousand creepers could spawn, everything could spontaneously combust. The possibilities are endless, really.

But nothing happens. I raise an eyebrow suspiciously as I take a few steps forward. Still nothing happens. I shrug and stride across the room towards a table that I assume the food will spawn on when the time hits twelve o' clock.

"EEP!" I shriek as the floor beneath my feet gives way, and then I'm falling and falling and falling, and it gets to where I'm not sure I'll ever _stop_ falling, and all I can see is darkness and little shapes in the darkness that I can't quite make out, and there is silence everywhere.

And then suddenly, I land. Well, okay. I crash. Somehow, though, I'm unharmed. That's cool. It's always cool to not get killed.

"Sky! Are you okay?" Ty's voice calls down. I look up, but I've fallen so far that the light at the top of the thing I fell down looks to be the size of an ant.

"Uh, yeah!" I yell up, glancing around at my new surroundings. It's still too dark, and I can't see anything. "I'm fine- ACK!" I'm cut off as something slaps – is that a _tentacle? – _over my mouth.

"Sky!? Sky, are you alright?"

I try to reply, but my voice is muffled beyond comprehension. The creature/person – by now I'm fairly sure it's a squid – yanks me backwards, and I yelp in pain as it shoves me into a different room, one that smells musty and old. "Sky!" I hear someone call, but their voice sounds so faint.

The tentacle is removed from my mouth, and I spit out a bit of slime before protesting my capture. "Who are you? Do you work for the squids? Are _you_ a squid? Why'd you capture me?"

The person/thing/creature chuckles. **"Welcome to your first mini-challenge, Skybrine!"**

My eyes widen as a light over my head flickers on and the face of the GameMaster is revealed. But... Oh. Yup. He's got tentacles. _That_'s not weird. "H-How are you...?"

"**One of the players who died on this show in the past was a shape shifter. Now that he's dead, I have control of his power."**

"Good for you, I guess, but I _hate_ squids."

"**Exactly. Why else would I be temporarily giving myself squid tentacles?"**

I huff, crossing my arms.

"**You can be mad if you want, I don't really care. However, I'd like to tell you a bit about these mini-challenges. They'll happen every other day right before your lunch. To eat lunch, you must complete the mini-challenge. You may back out if you want, though. Well... Usually you may. Sometimes I might decide that I just really want you to participate in one of them, and then you'll have no choice."**

I groan. "Great, that's great. My life just gets better and better." I sigh. "Alright, whatever, just tell me what the mini-challenge is."

"**Sure thing. Today's mini-challenge requires that you allow a family of squids to dine on your flesh."**

"WHAT."

"**You heard me. Don't worry, though, any and all damage done to your physical being will be restored after the mini-challenge. You'll be fine."**

"And what about emotional damage?" I squeak, imagining those slimy, ridiculously annoying and evil squids chomping down on my skin. Ugh. Gives me the chills.

"**You'll just have to deal with any emotional damage."**

"Okay, no. I'll just go without lunch for today."

The GameMaster puffs his cheeks up and then lets out the air slowly, seeming beyond irritated.** "You know what? I think today is one of those days where I don't give you a choice. The viewers want a good show, you know?"**

I let out a low whine. "B-But-"

"**No arguing, remember?"**

My eyes widen. "Got it! No arguing!" I say quickly.

"**Good." **He snaps his fingers, and eight squids appear in a cage in the corner of the room. **"Try not to put up too much of a fight. These squids have been tortured by you many times, and they want a night of revenge."**

"A whole night?" I ask, my jaw dropping half-way to the floor.

He shrugs. **"As long as it takes them to finish their meal."**

My eyes lock onto the eyes of the biggest, slimiest squid, and I must be frozen in fear, because I can't seem to move. Okay, I need a game plan. I'll just- yeah, I'll just punch the squids until they die. Squids don't have _that_ much health.

"**Oh, and I've temporarily granted these squids the power of invincibility."**

No.

Freaking.

Way.

* * *

><p><em>*smiles suspiciously* What? No, of course Sky doesn't die in the next chapter!<em>


	9. Chapter 9

_**WARNING: **This chapter is sort of gory (not too much, but still), and the feels are intense, like, seriously. Just wanted to warn you._

**Games**

**Ch 9: Squids**

"**Have fun!" **the GameMaster says, grinning evilly as he snaps his fingers again and disappears in a puff of smoke. The latch on the squids' cage door falls open, and the squids look up at me with cruel, disturbing smiles.

"Oh, we will," says the smallest of the squids. The squids crawl out of the cage and toward me, opening their mouths to reveal unnaturally-sharpened teeth that seem to almost have a pulse – they look like they're inflating and then deflating slightly with each breath of the squids.

"Uh, come on, guys! You know I didn't mean all those bad things I said about you!" I laugh nervously, backing up and pressing my back against the door.

"Did you mean it when you constantly ordered your army to attack us? Did you mean it when you rather consistently chopped our heads off with your 'budder' swords?" one of the squids asks.

"I-I, uh... I'm... sorry?"

"Sorry isn't enough, buddy."

"B-But, b-but I probably taste horrible!"

"But your screams will probably be horrifically satisfying, and your blood will be most satisfactory."

NO. NO, THERE IS NOTHING SATISFACTORY ABOUT CHEWING THROUGH A PERSON'S FLESH OR SIPPING THEIR BLOOD.

The squids lunge toward me, and I gasp as they sink their razor-sharp teeth into my right forearm and the right side of my torso. Then I cry out as they rip the blade-like teeth out of my skin and pierce them in again in different spots. "N-No _way_ am I letting a bunch of filthy _squids _eat me," I mutter, tearing away from the squids and spinning around to push the door open. Luckily, it's unlocked, and I run out into the room that I first fell into. After quickly glancing around and using the dim light from the other room to actually see some of my surroundings, I spot a narrow staircase embedded in the wall. It takes a full three seconds for my slightly-distracted brain to realize that I should probably run _up_ the stairs rather than just staring at them like an idiot.

"You can't run, Sky!" one of the squids screams as it chases me up the staircase.

"I'm running right now, aren't I?" I ask, sprinting up the stairs as fast as I can. After several flights of stairs – seriously, I've been running for, like, ten minutes now, and my legs _burn_ – I finally reach what must be the top. There's a trap door above me, and I fiddle with the latch for a while, but I think it's locked.

Oh, please, no.

I pound on the trap door, messing with the handle and then giving up and just trying to break it open. The squids are literally one block behind me now, and I have no where to run. I turn around slowly to smile fearfully at them. "H-Hey! How's it g-going?"

The squid grins, revealing those scarily sharp teeth. "It's going good. You?"

"U-Uh, I'm good, just waiting to be torn apart and eaten by a bunch of squids."

"Cool," the squid says. He lunges forward and pierces his teeth through my shoulder, and I cry out in pain. Then I'm pounding on the trap door as all the squids attack me at once, biting and tearing and _chewing_.

Finally, the trap door breaks open, and I practically fly out of the dark staircase and into a dimly lit room. Knowing I don't have much time until the squids are feasting on my skin again, I glance quickly around the room and then dart toward a light blue door on one of the walls. I fling it open, run through, and then slam it shut behind me, putting my weight against it to hold it shut while I flip the lock.

"Sky!" several people shout. Most of Team Crafted rushes over to me – Seto is just sitting at a table and semi-calmly eating some pie.

"Sky, are you okay? What happened to you? Oh Notch, Sky, you're really hurt, what happened!?" Ty asks quickly, scanning me with wide eyes.

I let out a shaky breath, not bothering to say anything other than "Oh my Notch, Ty," as I literally fall into his arms, completely exhausted.

His eyes widen even more as he wraps his arms around me gently and sinks down to the floor, still holding me. "Sky?" he asks softly. I shake my head, breathing heavily and burying my face in his shoulder. "Sky, come on, you have to tell me what happened."

I let out a sob, losing the last of my composure. "The G-GameMaster... a-and the mini-challenge, and no c-choice, and... and s-squids, e-eating me, a-and..."

"Squids _eating _you?" Ty asks, tightening his hold on me protectively. Seto chokes on his pie.

I nod, bursting into tears and snuggling farther into Ty's embrace.

"Why'd you slam the door so quickly?" Mitch asks, playing with the lock on the door I just ran out of. "What's in here?" He starts to unlock it-

"NO! Please no! Please, no, no, no!" I sob, gripping Ty's shirt.

Mitch's eyes widen, and he backs away from the door slowly. "Okay, then."

"Shh, it's gonna be alright, Sky," Ty coos, playing with my hair while I cry. "You're okay, you're alright. Let's go back to our rooms, we'll try to find something to patch up those... um... bites? Are those teeth marks all over you?"

"Mmhmm," I sniffle.

"They're really deep... Oh, Notch..," Ty trails off, lifting my arm so he can get a better look at the deep gashes caused by the squids' teeth.

"Food," Seto say simply, having recovered from his choking/coughing fit. He walks over and hands me a plate of buttered toast. "With butter."

I manage to smile gratefully at him before shoving the toast into my mouth and going back to sobbing into Ty's now-soaked shirt.

Ty stands up slowly, pulling me with him as gently as possible. When he tries to pull away from me so he can actually walk, though, I cry out and clutch onto his shirt. "No, please don't leave!" I sniff.

Ty sighs. "We have to go back to the Living Quarters so we can get something to help with your cuts... gashes... whatever."

I shake my head. "Th-They'll be fine, the G-GameMaster said that any physical d-d-damage done to me would be f-fixed."

"**Actually, I said that any physical damage done to you would be fixed **_**after**_** you completed the mini-challenge. Since you failed to complete the challenge, you'll have to deal with the wounds,"** the GameMaster says, appearing in the corner of the room. I let out another sob. **"It's **_**your**_** fault, anyway. If you had just allowed those squids to eat you..."**

"Why were you letting squids _eat_ him!?" Ty shouts angrily, stepping away from me and towards the GameMaster. I follow him, still making sure to keep a reasonable distance between the GameMaster and myself.

The GameMaster shrugs. **"It was a mini-challenge."**

"And why was only Sky forced to do it?"

"**Well, technically, it was a _mini-_mini-challenge. The real mini-challenge will be tomorrow. That was just a taste of it, to show the audience a little piece of what will be going on tomorrow."**

I close my eyes, letting out a shaky breath and leaning into Ty. He puts his arm around my waist protectively as the GameMaster takes a few steps toward us.

"**Aw, what's wrong, Skybrine?"** the GameMaster asks in a sickly sweet voice. **"Did the bad squids scare you?"**

"Sh-Shut up," I choke out, hiding my face in Ty's chest.

The GameMaster hums, coming closer still. **"Oh, is your boyfriend protecting you from me? How sweet."**

Ty tenses slightly and lets his arm drop from my waist. "I-I'm not his boyfriend," he stutters.

"**Sure you're not,"** the GameMaster says, rolling his eyes. Ty side-steps away from me, leaving me to stand somewhat alone. The GameMaster frowns. **"Well, there he goes. Looks like he doesn't really care about you **_**that**_** much, if he's willing to give you up that easily."** Tears well up in my eyes, but I'm pretty sure no one notices, since I've been crying anyways. I tilt my head down slightly, staring at the floor. Then the last of his words register. Give me up? What does that mean? Is the GameMaster- **"Come on, then, Skybrine. We're going to a special place."** He walks toward me, reaching out his hand, and I shrink back in fear.

And then Ty is by my side again, clutching my hand. "You are _not_ touching him," he growls. "After that whole squid deal, I'm never leaving his side again."

"**You left his side literally three seconds ago."**

"Never again," Ty whispers.

"**Oh, come on!"** the GameMaster insists. **"It's not so much a **_**bad**_** place that I'm taking him to! He just has to finish the mini-mini-challenge. His wounds will heal afterward, so that's a plus."** He reaches toward me again, and I shake in fear. No, no, no, I do not want to go back into a room with those squids. Please, no. Notch, no.

Ty squeezes my hand. "No. The wounds will heal naturally, he'll be fine. Emotional scars are a lot worse than physical ones."

The GameMaster narrows his eyes. **"The audience wants to see the rest of the challenge, they want to see the squids rip Skybrine's flesh from his body. And what the audience wants, the audience gets."**

"Is that really want they want, though?" Ty asks, moving threateningly toward the GameMaster. "Or is it what _you_ want? 'Cause you'd have to be pretty sick in the head to enjoy watching this kind of thing, and I'm fairly sure the majority of the world wouldn't like this."

The GameMaster scowls at us, but he is silent. Finally, he says, **"Fine. This challenge has been canceled. But remember, Ty, rule number three: No one argues with or rebels against the GameMaster." **Then he disappears in a puff of smoke.

The terrified people in the room slowly come out of the paralysis that the GameMaster's presence seems to bring. "Woah," someone whispers. "That guy is mentally sick."

"You're just now noticing?" Seto asks, grimacing at the locked, light blue door that's holding back those squids that were chasing me.

I suck in a shaky breath. "C-Can we go home?" I ask, my voice sounding incredibly small compared to how it usually sounds.

Ty pulls me into a hug, and I rest my head on his shoulder, closing my eyes. "No, Sky, I'm sorry. But we can go back to the Living Quarters," he says softly in my ear.

I nod. "Okay."

* * *

><p><em>*insane smile* Oh, how I love this kind of chapter.<em>

_And no, I'm not crazy, thank you very much._

_I'm just obsessed with Skylox feels. :3_

_Baiii, my Rulers!_


	10. Chapter 10

**Games**

**Ch 10: #SkyMU?**

"We really didn't do anything after you fell," Ian explains, lounging on one of my budder recliners. My room has pretty much become the living room.

"We were calling your name, and when you started to respond and then got cut off, we kind of freaked out," Quentin says.

"Ty was ready to jump down after you," Seto chuckles. "But then the hole in the floor closed up."

"And we pretty much just sat there pounding on the floor and trying to get it to open again. We were completely freaking out. Sanity flew out the window," Jason says. "Well, Seto didn't take part in the worrying insanity. He just kinda sat there at the table eating pie. Thanks for being useless, Seto."

"Hey, I was worrying, I was just worrying calmly," Seto defends himself. "And anyways, you were being just as useless as I was, only I wasn't even _attempting_ to be not useless."

I giggle quietly, sipping a hot cocoa that randomly spawned next to other hot drinks in the hallway.

"After I fell, the GameMaster pulled me into a room, and he did it with _squid tentacles_, too. Ugh. Gross. And then he told me that it was a mini-challenge and that I had no choice but to take part in it, and squids appeared in the cages, and then he let them go, and... uh... yeah, I'll just stop there..," I trail off, not wanting to relive the actual challenge.

Ty wraps me up in a hug – we're both sitting on my bed – and whispers, "It's okay, you don't have to tell us," in my ear. I nod, burying my face in his chest. What would I do without Ty?

Mitch coughs, obviously trying not to laugh. "Well, I think I'm just gonna head up to bed... I want to be ready for the real mini-challenge tomorrow. G'night!"

"'Night," I mutter as everyone else waves to him. Jerome heads up the stairs soon after.

We talk a bit more, and then almost everyone else goes to their rooms. "Aren't you going to go to bed?" I ask Ty. Not that I mind, I'm fine with him staying here. "You'll need rest for the mini-challenge tomorrow."

Ty shakes his head. "No way. I meant what I said earlier, about not leaving your side. What if the GameMaster poofs in here in the middle of the night and tries to force you into some twisted challenge again? I'm not gonna let that happen," he says determinedly.

"I seriously doubt he's going to pop in in the middle of the night. You should just go to sleep." Stop talking, Sky, your crush is offering to stay with you all night!

"I _will_ go to sleep, I'll just do it in your room. I'll sleep on the budder couch."

I frown. "Yeah, no. If you're gonna stay in here and be my 'protector,' you're at least going to sleep in the bed." He opens his mouth to protest, but I cut him off. "With me, if you don't mind."

A rosy pink spreads across his face as he nods. "Y-Yeah, that's fine."

I tug the covers out from under the pillows and shove them towards the end up the bed. Then I pull them up over Ty and me, yawning and blinking slowly as I snuggle up into the sheets. "Thanks, Ty," I mumble.

"For what?" he asks, lying down beside me.

"Staying with me," I respond.

I fall asleep wrapped in Ty's arms.

**xXx**

"Sky! Wake up!" someone shouts, shaking me.

I shoot up into a sitting position, panting and sweating. "W-What?"

"You were screaming in your sleep, something about squids. I think you were having a nightmare about the mini-mini-challenge," Ty explains.

I shiver. "Well, t-thanks for waking me." I can't even remember the dream, but I know it was horrifying. I sub-consciously begin to rub the bandage that's covering one of my squid bites.

"No problem. It's, like, eleven o' clock or something anyway."

Someone knocks on the door and then pushes it open. "Is Sky okay?" Seto yawns. Jason stands behind him.

"Yeah, he's fine," Ty answers. "Just a bad dream."

Seto nods in understanding. "Oh, alright. Well, Jason was freaking out about squid apocalypses or something, and when he heard you screaming about squids, he was out of bed in an instant." He chuckles. "I think you've found your match, Sky," Seto jokes, pointing at Jason, who rolls his eyes and then pretends to blow me a kiss. Ty tenses beside me.

"Oh, yes, we'll be two lovers on the run, forever hiding from the evil squids," Jason says dramatically.

"We'll have our own tragic love story!" I play along, laughing in between my words. "#SkyMU, meant to be together but torn apart by the devastation caused by the squids!"

Jason collapses on the floor laughing, and I bang my head on the bed's headboard. Jason and I always used to joke about SkyMU when we were still... uh... not in a deadly game show.

"Um, I'm going to... take a shower or something..," Ty mumbles, sliding off the bed and moving towards the door. He slips out into the hallway.

I tilt my head in confusion. "Ty, what's wrong?" I call, hopping off the bed and going after him.

Seto facepalms. "Are you kidding me, Sky?"

I blink. "What?"

He groans. "You're such an idiot sometimes," he grumbles, shaking his head and pulling Jason back upstairs.

What? What am I missing here?

I shrug and wander out of my bedroom. "Ty?" I ask, peeking into his room. He doesn't reply. "Do we even _have_ showers?" I ask myself under my breath.

"**Yes, Skybrine, I'm glad you asked! There's a set of washrooms behind the Living Quarters."**

I wrinkle my nose. "I wasn't asking you."

"**But I was answering you."**

"Yeah, I get that. Well, Mr. Omnipresent GameMaster, have you seen Ty?"

"**Mmhmm."**

"Mind telling me _where_ you saw him?"

"**In your room a few seconds ago."**

I sigh, deciding to just ignore the GameMaster, since he obviously isn't going to be any help. "Ty?" I shout again, rapping my knuckles on his bedroom door and then simply shoving it open. I would check the washroom thingies that the GameMaster was talking about, but I don't think Ty even knows where they are. "Dude, you in here?"

"Yeah, I'm here." His quiet voice comes from the corner of the room, where there's a desk of black, polished wood and a black and green spinney chair. Ty sure does like those colors – then again, I can't really judge, since my room is made almost entirely of budder.

"Whatcha doin'?" I ask, walking over to the desk where he's sitting. "I thought you were gonna take a shower."

"I was, but I have no idea where the showers are. Now I'm just fiddling with things." He holds up a paper airplane.

I smile. "Cool. But what happened to 'never leaving my side?'"

He shrugs, refusing to make eye contact with me. "I dunno, I mean... You were joking around with Jason and Seto, so... I didn't want to intrude."

"Intrude? Ty, you're a part of Team Crafted, too. You weren't intruding by just sitting there. In fact, you are perfectly welcome to join in on our joking at any given time."

Ty looks down at his feet. "Yeah, okay," he says quietly.

I frown. "What's wrong?" When he doesn't answer, I pull the spinney chair he's sitting on over to his bed so I can sit down on the bed and talk to him. "Seriously, tell me what's up."

"I, uh... It's nothing."

"Ty, you can trust me."

"I know I can! I just... It's literally nothing."

I give him a disbelieving look, but I'm not going to press it any more than that. If he doesn't want to tell me, then he doesn't have to. "Well, alright, then. The GameMaster told me where the showers are, if you want to go get started on that before the mini-challenge."

Ty nods, still not looking me in the eye. "Yeah. Sure. Sounds good."


	11. Chapter 11

_**WARNING: **It's rather gory at the end... Last paragraph. That's all._

**Games**

**Ch 11: The First Mini-Challenge**

"**ATTENTION, PLAYERS! THE MINI-CHALLENGES WILL BEGIN IN NINE MINUTES. PLEASE REPORT TO THE PURPLE BUILDING."**

"Gah!" I shout, covering my ears. "Why!?"

Ty laughs, tapping his headphones with a grin. He's back to being completely comfortable around me, which is good, I guess. I still don't know why he was acting all weird earlier, though.

I sigh. "Lucky duck. Why do you wear those headphones all the time, anyways?"

"I don't know. I guess I just like them," he replies, shrugging.

"Oh. Well, alright." I grab Ty's hand, noting the way he tenses and then almost immediately relaxes, and start dragging him toward the door of his room. We finished our showers about half an hour ago, and we've been making paper airplanes and other origami stuff since then. "We need to hurry up and get to that purple building before we end up late and the GameMaster blows a fuse."

"**I heard that."**

"I know you did."

Ty giggles at the almost inaudible sigh in my voice. Then he comes to an abrupt stop and tugs on my arm. I glance back at him with a confused expression. "Are you sure you're ready for this?" Ty asks quietly.

I nod, looking at the ground. "Yeah, I'm ready. Not that I have a choice."

Ty smiles sadly. "Don't worry, you'll get through this. The game show only has eight challenges, right? So when all that's over, we can go home, be safe."

I smile slightly for a second, but then I realize something. "Hey, woah! I'm not the only one doing a traumatizing mini-challenge today, you're gonna be doing one, too!"

Ty shrugs. "I'll be fine."

"But what if you're not?" I ask, starting to hyperventilate. What if he gets put through something really painful, or what if the GameMaster _kills_ him, or what if-

"Dude, no, I'll be fine. I promise," Ty says, squeezing my hand.

"**THREE MINUTES!"** the GameMaster's voice blares over unseen speakers.

"Snap," I mutter, tugging Ty towards the door to the Living Quarters. We run towards the purple building and burst through the doors, surprising everyone else in the room (particularly Quentin, who was standing right next to the door and actually got knocked onto the floor when we flung the doors open). "Uh, hi, guys."

"Hi," Mitch says, helping Quentin up. "Thank goodness you're here. We were starting to think you'd be late, and we weren't sure how much the GameMaster would like that..."

Ian looks on with pain-filled eyes as Mitch comments casually about how Quentin really _does_ look like a fish and Quentin does nothing but calmly push him away. Note to self: Have a nice little chat with Quentin about the way he treats Ian. That fish needs to be taught a serious lesson.

I glance away from Ian, who is so obviously trying to match the semi-happy expression of the person next to him (and failing), and turn my head towards the GameMaster, who appeared in the front of the room a few seconds ago. "Oh, hi. 'Sup?" I ask.

The GameMaster glares at me, ignoring my greeting. Gosh, rude. **"Welcome to your first mini-challenge!"** he shouts. **"In this challenge, you will be forced to face one of your worst fears. Okay, not forced. You do have the option to back out and refuse the challenge."**

He pauses. **"Well, actually, not all of you have that option. Skybrine and Jason have no choice but to participate in today's mini-challenge. For each mini-challenge, two players will be randomly chosen to be forced into participation."**

I sigh, not bothering anymore to argue or even groan in disappointment.

"**The winner of the mini-challenge will be awarded one point and a small advantage in the next Challenge. Who wants to compete today?"** the GameMaster asks.

"How do we win?" Jerome asks.

"**The winner of the mini-challenge will be selected based on how well they handle themselves physically, mentally, and emotionally when faced with their fears. Anyone want to try it?"**

Ty raises his hand, and I send him a worried glance. "If you're doing it, I'm doing it," he whispers in my ear. Oh, Ty, you're too good of a friend. Seto raises his hand as well, and then Ian. Mitch and Jerome shoot their hands up at the same time, and then Quentin sighs and hesitantly raises his hand, too.

"**Well, then! Everyone's doing it, this is great!"** the GameMaster beams. **"Well, there's really no need to say anything else – let's start!"** He claps his hands together, and the sound it makes echoes around the room.

_PIGGLEBIGGLEBOOMZAPBANGTSSSS!_

I glance around. My surroundings have changed – now I'm back in the room that the GameMaster pulled me into after I fell down that hole in the purple building yesterday. Oh, great, and here I thought he might actually decide to be nice for once and make me face some less-terrifying fear. But nope, the man-eating squids are apparently staying a little longer.

The room is a little different, though. Okay, a lot different. For one thing, the light in here is eerily bright. Plus, the room's ceiling is much higher, and there's a staircase that goes in circles, hugging the walls. One of the walls is just a huge mirror – it actually looks like the mirror is built into the wall. Cautiously, I walk slowly towards the mirror wall, glancing around nervously and half-expecting the GameMaster to pop up out of no where. He doesn't though, so I step forward until I'm right in front of the mirror wall. On instinct, I press my hand up against it, and a second later, I feel like there's something pressing back on my hand. I quickly tear my hand away and look down at it, examining it. It looks fine. But what was that... spark I felt?

I press my hand against the wall again, and a second later, that feeling is back, like there's someone on the other side of the mirror pressing their hand against the same spot that I'm pressing mine. I tilt my head, staring at the mirror. The reflection of my hand touches right to my actual hand, there's no gap. I think that's supposed to mean something, but I can't quite remember what.

"**Skybrine! Are you ready to face your fear?"** My eyes widen in surprise and I whirl around to face the GameMaster.

"Uh, if it involves man-eating squids, then no," I reply, trying not to shake in fear. I don't think I'm entirely succeeding.

"**Oh. Sucks for you!"** the GameMaster says, a wide, cruel smile decorating his face. **"The squids are back!"** He snaps his fingers, and the same eight squids from the mini-mini-challenge appear in the corner of room. They aren't in a cage this time, but they don't look like they intend on moving at all until the GameMaster tells them to. **"This time around, you will be trapped in this room with the squids for three hours. There is no escape route this time, so you will be forced to either run around in circles for three hours straight or just resign and let the squids eat you. Any and all damage done to your physical being will be restored after the challenge."**

I narrow my eyes. "You promise?"

The GameMaster cackles. **"Yes, Skybrine, I promise, though I'm not sure how much my word really means to you."**

Yeah, he's right. I don't trust this guy as far as I could throw him – and honestly, I'm not very strong, so I'd probably only be able to throw him a foot or two. And that's only if he'd ever let me get anywhere near him.

I need my powers if I want to have any chance of defeating him.

But I don't want to defeat him.

Not yet.

"**Have fun! I'll see you in three hours,"** the GameMaster says cheerily before disappearing in a puff of smoke. I wonder what his original power was before he gained control of all these other people's powers. Was it that teleporting thing that he seems to do all the time?

"So we meet again," the biggest squid drawls, finally moving toward me.

I roll my eyes, feigning confidence even as I take a terrified step away from the squids. "We're gonna meet several more times, you mentally challenged squid. I mean, honestly. You're a squid, I'm the Budder God. We're gonna meet again eventually, it's inevitable."

"Which means your defeat is inevitable as well," one of the smaller squids says.

I shake my head, taking another step back as they step forward. Maybe I can run up that staircase that wraps around the room... "No, no. _You_'re the ones who are going to be defeated." Yeah, I don't think they really believe me.

I don't quite believe me, either.

Three of the squids launch themselves at me, but instead of taking a quick bite, they pin me to the floor with their tentacles. Their many limbs hold down all of mine so that I can't move much other than to squirm a bit. "We've learned from last time," one of the squids who isn't pinning me down explains. "This time, we won't let you run."

Oh. That's great.

A particularly derpy-looking squid lunges forward to sink his teeth into my flesh, but the biggest squid tugs him back with a hiss. "No, you idiot! The GameMaster told us to make sure Sky is in view of the window when we hurt him!"

"Window?" I ask. Hey, if they're talking, they're not eating me, so why not make some conversation?

One of the squids pinning me down rolls his eyes and turns me slightly so I'm looking at the mirror wall. "That window, doofus."

"Good sir – er, derpy squid – that is _not_ a window. That's a mirror."

The squid huffs. "It's a window, okay? Just go with it." What? No way! If I 'just go with it,' they're gonna begin their feast!

"Dude, no, seriously. Explain to me how that wall that is so obviously a mirror is a window," I say stubbornly.

"It just _is_."

"But I can see my reflection, Mr. Squid. Windows don't allow me to do that, at least not so clearly."

"Look, it's a two-way mirror kind of thing. It's totally a window, just not on this side."

"Yeah, uh-huh, I don't believe you."

"Well, fine, you can die thinking that wall is just a regular mirror. We don't care! We just want to rip you apart!" one of the squids says, sighing. "Is that so much to ask?"

"Sort of. Just a little."

The squids groan. Then one of them says loudly, "You know what? This conversation is over. We are going to eat you, and you are going to sit here and enjoy- okay, you are going to sit here and bear it." Then he shoots forward, digging his teeth into my arm and leaving a circle of gashes. I cry out in pain, squirming to get out of the three squids' hold. But before I can move even one inch, another squid is darting forward and chomping down on my _cheek_ and I am squealing in pain and gasping as blood flows down my face. One of the smaller squids reaches a tentacle forward and tears a piece of torn skin off my cheek, and then he pops it into his mouth and eats it as dramatically as possible, carefully chewing it on the right side of his mouth. I shudder, and then they're all lunging towards me at once, and I'm just sobbing and screaming and struggling and not making any progress towards freedom at all.

* * *

><p><em>Oops, long chapter, my bad. I couldn't find a way to shorten it without making it less awesome. :3<em>

_But seriously, MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHHAAHHAAHAHAHHAHA_

_Baiii, my be-a-yoo-ti-ful Rulers! Hope you enjoyed!_


	12. Chapter 12

_'Kay, first of all, I'd like to say that I'm really proud of you guys for making such great predictions and guesses. :3 My reading teacher always used to say that a good reader can guess what will happen next in a book (or at least what happened behind the scenes, A.K.A. Ty's mini-challenge). Now, I'm not saying any of you are right; for all you know, you're WAY off._

_I'm just saying I'm proud of you for making guesses._

**Games**

**Ch 12: Exploding Bathroom**

"T-Ty!" I wail, stumbling out of the dark room where the GameMaster healed the intense damage done to my body by the squids. Physically, I look perfectly fine, but emotionally? I'm a wreck.

I take two steps and then fall directly into Ty's open arms, and we both bawl our eyes out while he plays with my hair and I hug him half to death. "S-Sky, are you a-alright?" Ty chokes out after a while.

"No," I whisper, "not at all. A-Are you?"

He sighs, closing his eyes for a few moments and holding me closer. "I-I'm getting there."

"What h-happened in your challenge?"

"U-Uh... I'd rather not talk about it," he says, glancing down at his feet. I nod, completely understanding. I shouldn't have asked that question anyways. I mean, _I_ certainly wouldn't want to relive _my_ challenge.

"That's okay. Let's just sit here for a moment and enjoy the peace," I say quietly, taking a deep, shaky breath and trying to dispel the memories of the squids from my mind as I pull Ty down to sit on the floor with me. It's not working. It's not working, it's not working, those squids and the pain and the helplessness, that's all I can think of. Before I can completely break down again, I bury my face in Ty's shirt. He gently wraps his arms around me, silently giving me comfort.

"Quentin!" Ian shouts, chasing a crying fish through a door and into the big, round room that Ty and I are in. There are doors placed around the room leading to bathroom-sized rooms that all look identical to the one I was teleported to after the squids... ugh. Anyways, the GameMaster healed my physical damage in one of those rooms, and Ty was teleported into another of the rooms. The rest of the Team should be popping up in the other rooms soon. "Quentin, wait, please!"

I should help, I should get up and see what's wrong. But really all I want to do is snuggle up to Ty and never move again.

But Ian and Quentin need help.

But Ty and I are freaking traumatized over here.

But Ian and Quentin need help.

Sigh. The things I do for my friends. I gently pry myself out of Ty's embrace so I can stand up, and he literally jumps up to stand by me, clinging onto my arm. Whatever the GameMaster put him through, it affected him more than he's been letting on. I move Ty's hand off my arm and hold it in my own hand instead before moving towards the area where Quentin is now flinching away from Ian. Ian has him backed against the wall and is reaching out a hand toward him hesitantly. "Quentin..."

I tap on Ian's shoulder. "What's wrong?" I croak, my voice still hoarse from crying.

He hesitates, glancing at Quentin. "The GameMaster combined my challenge with Quentin's, in a way. Quentin was put in this mirror maze, like in a fun house, you know? Except the mirrors didn't show Quentin's reflection, they showed you, me, Ty, Jerome, Mitch, Seto, Jason, everyone. But mostly me, for whatever reason," Ian begins, keeping his voice down so Quentin doesn't hear him. "And the people in the mirrors were just continuously throwing insults at Quentin. No matter where he looked, ran, hid, they were always right in front of him. It may not seem that bad, but it went on for the entire three hours that we were in there. It got to where Quentin was just rocking on the floor, covering his ears and crying his eyes out.

"And I was above him the whole time. The ceiling in Quentin's maze looked just like another mirror to him, but in reality, it was like a window on one side. I could look through the floor of _my_ challenge room and see Quentin. And it was terrible, watching all the mirror versions of me hurt Quentin like that and not being able to do anything about it. I just had to... watch him suffer. It was... I just..." He lowers his voice even more. "It's a horrible feeling, not being able to help the one you love when they're in pain."

"I know how you feel," Ty whispers, but I'm focused on what Ian said earlier. The window/mirror thing, the squids weren't lying about it. But why would... Hmm... Maybe the GameMaster was watching me through the window/mirror in my challenge room?

Ian smiles sadly. "Anyways, Quentin thinks we all hate him now, and he's terrified of us. Whenever I try to talk to him, he just runs away and covers his ears."

I frown, moving carefully towards Quentin. "Hey, fish," I say softly, meaning to start into some comforting speech about how we're his friends and the things he saw in his challenge were all fake.

Quentin cuts me off, sobbing the words "I'm not a fish, I'm an amphibian!" Well. That did not go as planned.

I turn to Ian with wide, questioning eyes. Ian sighs. "Mirror-You told Quentin that you considered a fish to be in the same family as a squid and therefore wished he would die a painful death."

"Oh. Well, then." I pause, then turn back to Quentin to try again. "Quentin? I just want you to know that squids are not fish. They're squids. Squids and fish have no relation whatsoever in my book." I stop again, thinking. "And you're a mudkip anyway. You're _our_ mudkip, our friend."

Quentin sniffles a bit, not full-out sobbing anymore but definitely not smiling, either. Ian steps in to try to back up what I said. "You're a lovely mudkip, Quentin, and we all care about you a lot. In fact, you're my best friend."

Quentin shies away from Ian when he steps closer, shaking his head slowly. "No, no! You're lying! You hate me and you're sure Notch wasn't in his right mind when he created me and you think I'm a dumb, ugly, worthless fish and you can't wait for me to die and go to the Nether and if I'm alive much longer you're just going to kill me yourself!" he cries.

"Woah. That's a lot more than comparing him to a squid and wishing him a painful death," I comment.

Ian winces. "Yeah. Like I said, most of the mirror-people were versions of me." He glances at Quentin with a mixture of love, regret, and helplessness. Quentin won't even look at him.

"Oh my Notch, but did you see the look on his face!?" someone asks, giggling.

I turn around to see Mitch and Jerome walking out of a room and laughing. "Yeah, it was great! He _so_ thought he had us!" Jerome replies.

"He was no match for the Benja-Bacca duo!" Mitch yells, fist-pumping the air.

"We are too strongk!" Jerome says in a funny voice.

"What happened?" I ask.

"The GameMaster pitted us up against this huge army of mobs, but we were taking them out without a problem," Mitch explains. "So he teleported in Wobbie, you know, my old nemesis? But we totally owned him, too!" He turns to Jerome and high-fives him.

"Well, then. I guess we know who won the challenge," I say, laughing slightly.

Ty shrugs. "Jason or Seto might have done really well. We'll just have to wait until they get out."

While Ian tries to convince Quentin that he doesn't want him dead, Mitch and Jerome run around the room in a game of tag that Ty and I refuse to participate in. Right now, we just want to sit down and relax. I let out a relaxed sigh and lean into Ty, who hums and starts fiddling with my curly hair again.

"Dood, are you okay!?" Mitch asks, stopping mid-stride to look at Jason, who is stumbling out of one of the rooms.

He shakes his head, panting as he leans his back against the wall and then sinks to the floor, hugging his knees. "That was horrific," he breathes. "I was in space, and I was absolutely loving it, and then... I don't know, my suit started malfunctioning or something, and then I couldn't breathe, and it was just constant pain... I don't think I'll ever dream about going to space again."

"There goes your entire life goal," I say. He sighs, apparently too exhausted to glare at me as he closes his eyes. Now we're just waiting for Seto.

That's when one of the little bathroom-sized rooms blows up.

* * *

><p><em>I hope the feels killed you.<em>

_But I also hope Notch revived you afterwards, because I don't want your parents to sue me for your death._

_Oh, and also because I care about you. Yeah, that too._

_:3_

_You probably didn't die, though, 'cause this really wasn't as good as it could have been, sadly. JUST WAIT UNTIL THE RAPIST SESSION, THOUGH._

_OOPS. I MEANT "THERAPIST." :3_

_kthxbaii, my Rulers!_


	13. Chapter 13

_**WARNING: **Pain. Just a bit, not much._

**Games**

**Ch 13: I've Got the Magic in Me**

"I SWEAR TO NOTCH, IF YOU TRY TO SPAWN ANY MORE OF THOSE CREATURES, I WILL TURN YOUR BODY INSIDE OUT AND ALLOW WOLVES TO DEVOUR YOUR INNARDS!" Seto threatens, holding his hands out palms up and glaring at the GameMaster.

The GameMaster's face holds an expression that falls somewhere between confused and terrified.** "How in Minecraftia do you still have your powers!?"** he shouts. Seto shrugs, not lowering his hands. **"It was bad enough that Skybrine managed to get through with his powers still intact, but now you've done it, too!?"** Seto shrugs again, and the GameMaster narrows his eyes, glancing around the circular room until he finds me. **"Skybrine helped you, didn't he?"**

"Are you kidding? How would I even do that!?" I ask, standing up and meeting the GameMaster's angry gaze with one of my own. Ty stands up as well.

"It wasn't Sky," Seto says.

The GameMaster ignores him, still staring at me. What is his deal? Why does he hate me so much!? **"You've broken rule number one, Skybrine." **He starts to wave his hand toward me-

"I _said_, 'It wasn't Sky,'" Seto hisses, pressing his palm forward and freezing the GameMaster's hand midair. "I am a sorcerer. No matter how many times you remove the magic from my body, it will eventually regenerate in my soul."

The GameMaster makes a face at Seto. Oh, wow, real mature. **"Thank you for the lesson, Seto Sorcerer, but school is dismissed."** He starts to cast something on Seto-

And three milliseconds later, the GameMaster is dangling upside down from the ceiling. "Can you fly, sir?" Seto asks in an overly innocent voice. "Because if you can't, I can help you out." He blasts a small hole in the ceiling of the round room, threatening to throw the GameMaster out of it.

The GameMaster grits his teeth. **"Yes, Seto, I **_**can**_** fly. I can match your powers perfectly."**

"Is that why you're hanging from the ceiling against your will?" I ask. Ty giggles but elbows me anyway, signaling that I should shut up.

"**That is **_**exactly**_** why I am hanging from the ceiling against my will,"** the GameMaster answers through clenched teeth. **"My powers not only match Seto's but also exceed them. It is against the policy of 'Challenge Times Eight' to physically harm a player outside of the full Challenges."**

"Are you _kidding_ me!?" I splutter, thinking of my two mini-challenges.

"**It is against the policy for me to physically harm a player without healing them afterward," **the GameMaster corrects himself. **"If I used my full power on Seto, he would be dead before anyone could heal him." **Yeah, right. Excuses, excuses.

"What about the mini-mini-challenge?" I ask. He didn't heal me after that.

"**The policy does not apply when you are involved because I greatly despise you."**

"What!?" Ty exclaims, stepping in front of me. "How does that work!?"

"**I don't like Skybrine, therefore I will not take as many precautions to attempt to prevent his death in this game."**

"But that's not fair!"

"**Tough luck, buddy."**

"No, just- no! You can't do that! Why do you hate Sky so much, anyways?"

"**Because he is just like his father,"** the GameMaster replies casually. I reel back. What!? I am nothing like my father!

"He is _nothing _like his father!" Ty protests. Thank you, Ty!

"**Oh, but he is,"** says the GameMaster. **"He is his father's son, and nothing can change that."** He looks back over at me. **"Come on, Skybrine, look me in the eye and tell me that you've never once imagined your friends being murdered – by you."**

The eyes of everyone in the room shift to me, and I wince. "Well, okay, I- Like, every other month- or, I don't know, maybe every month, I, I sort of kind of have these weird little dreams where I, um..." I lower my voice slightly, looking down at my feet. "I kill you all in the most gory and painful way possible." My friends' eyes widen in horror. I raise my voice again. "But it's just a dream, it's not like I actually want that!"

"**They say dreams show one's goals and desires in life."**

"Dude, no. That's sick."

"**That's who you are."**

"It's who my father _wishes_ I was."

"**It's who _you_ wish you weren't."**

"I'm not- No. I'm not like that, and I never will be," I insist, but even I can hear the uncertainty in my voice. What if he's right? What if it's just a matter of time until my Herobrine instincts take over and I end up killing all of my friends? That can't happen. I can't let it happen.

"**Whatever you say, Sky_brine_."**

"That is not my name!" I shout, shooting daggers at the GameMaster with my eyes.

"**It is, it always has been, and it always will be."**

"Stop! It is _not_! My name is Sky, and I am nowhere _near_ as evil as my terrorist of a father."

"**So you admit that you are evil, at least a little?"**

"What? No!"

"**Skybrine, calm down. You just need to take a deep breath, stand still for a moment, and accept the fact that, when you are older, you will take your father's place as the evil god of the Nether."**

I grind my teeth together. "No. No, no, no! I will _never_ be like him, I will never take his place! The only 'god' I'll ever be is the Budder God."

The GameMaster narrows his eyes threateningly, sending me an icy glare. **"What was that, Skybrine? Did I hear you say 'budder?'"**

"Did I hear _you_ say it?"

He growls. **"That's it, boy, prepare for ultimate pain!"** He breaks Seto's magic connection and jumps down to the floor (yes, he was dangling from the ceiling during that entire conversation) before splaying his hands out towards me. Suddenly I'm unable to move at all – I can't even breathe. The GameMaster makes a 'down' motion with his hand, and then I'm falling to my knees and gasping for air and wishing I still had my Skybrine powers.

"Sky!" someone shouts, and I think it's Ty, but I can't really tell, because my vision is blurred and nothing sounds like it should and there are black splotches dancing across my already highly impaired vision.

I close my eyes, since leaving them open is not benefiting me at all. "Leave him alone!" someone shouts.

"Stop it!" somebody else screams.

"Let him go!" another person yells.

Suddenly, the GameMaster's invisible grip on me disappears, and I shudder as oxygen flows into my lungs again. Air... Oh, thank Notch... I suck in several quick breaths and then open my eyes. The black splotches are gone. That's good, I guess.

You know what's _not_ good?

Opening your eyes to see the love of your life being thrown against the wall by the GameMaster's magic.

I gasp and scramble across the room to sit by Ty, gently lifting him into my lap and tilting his head slightly to look for damage. He hit the wall pretty hard. Oh, look at that, he's unconscious. But he's breathing, so everything is fine-ish.

"What the Nether is your problem!?" I yell at the GameMaster, though I'm still out of breath and probably shouldn't be challenging him right now.

"**He tried to stop me."**

"He _did_ stop you!"

Seto's voice sounds in my head, literally. _"Shut the flip up, you idiot. Don't make it worse."_

I sigh, glancing down at Ty's limp body. He got hurt protecting _me_. A tear slips down my face, and I hold Ty more tightly. It's sort of acceptable when the GameMaster hurts _me,_ but he is _not_ going to hurt Ty. That's not _allowed. I_ won't allow it.

"_Sky..,"_ Seto's voice says warningly in my head.

"**Just go back to the Living Quarters,"** the GameMaster orders. **"Except for you, Seto. I'll just have to remove your powers every other day."**

Seto nods, shooting me a warning glance, and Mitch and Jerome speed-walk over to Ty and me. "Do you, uh, need help carrying him?" Mitch asks quietly.

I shake my head as I slowly rise to my feet, pulling Ty with me. I shift him so that I'm carrying him bridal style, and then I turn towards the dark oak door that just randomly appeared on the other side of the round room. "No, I've got it," I answer, and I'm surprised by how firm my voice sounds. I honestly expected it to crack or come out shaky or something.

Ian grabs Quentin's hand and tugs him towards the door, ignoring Quentin's fearful protests. "Shut up, Quentin, we're going to our room, alright?" Then, after hearing something Quentin said that was too quiet for me to hear, he adds, "Good Notch, Quentin, I'm not going to kill you!" Quentin whimpers but walks with Ian anyways.

Jason jogs up behind us as we exit the round room and come out onto a plains biome. "Are you alright, Sky?" he asks.

Ian, who is walking on my left side with Quentin trailing behind him, asks, "Is Ty alright?"

I nod. "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. As for Ty..." I shrug. "I _think_ he's fine. He's alive, and for now, that's good enough."

* * *

><p><em>So, what do you think the deal is with Mr. GameMaster? Why do you think he hates Sky so much? Like, come on, the GameMaster must have a REALLY big issue with Herobrine if he hates His son THAT much...<em>


	14. Chapter 14

_**WARNING:** This chapter contains the same bad joke repeated several times. :P_

**Games**

**Ch 14: Therapists**

I lay Ty down carefully on his bed and then stand up straight. After we finally located the Living Quarters (it was, like, eight-million-bajillion blocks away from the round room -.-), we decided to have a therapy session for Quentin. So while Ty rests, I'm going to be the official therapist person. At first, I insisted Ian be therapist, but he didn't want to be (lolol, notice I left out the extra 'the.' #Badjokes I'm sorry okbaii).

I quietly close Ty's bedroom door before stepping across the hallway to the Ssunkipz room. As soon as I enter, Mitch and Jerome jump away from each other suspiciously and Jason glares at them. Um... I don't even wanna know.

"Alright, the therapist session... is... uh... in session," I announce awkwardly as I drag Quentin's bed over to the middle of the room next to a black spinney chair. I plop myself down in the chair and pat the middle of the bed, signaling for Quentin to put his fishy butt down there. "So," I begin as he sits down. "What seems to be the problem?"

Ian facepalms, and Quentin gives me a weird look. "Uh, without going into much detail, I'm terrified of all of you."

I nod, pressing my lips together and humming understandably. "I see. And how does this make you feel?"

"Uh, terrified of all of you."

"Mmhmm. And how do you feel about this?"

"That's it, you're fired, Sky," Ian declares, standing up from where he was sitting on his bed. He marches across the room and shoves me out of my chair before dragging Jason over to take my place. "Congratulations, Jason, you're the new therapist. Try to do a better job than Sky did."

Jason is trying not to laugh as he sits down in the chair, stroking his non-existent beard. "So, Quentin... What are your feelings toward this situation?"

Ian huffs and pushes Jason off the chair. "Mitch- No. Too irresponsible. Jerome- Darn it. Uh, I can't do it, Quentin downright hates me. What about-"

"I'll do it!" Seto offers, strolling into the room.

We all shout variations of "Seto, you're back!" as we tackle him to the ground.

"Are your powers gone?" Jerome asks.

"For now," Seto answers as he shoves us away. "Is Ty okay?"

"For now," I reply. "I think he'll be alright, but I'm honestly not sure."

"Ah. I'll take a look at him later." He pauses, standing up and glancing at our little therapist set-up in the middle of the room. "So, what's this about needing a therapist?"

"Quentin's mini-challenge traumatized him, and now he hates us all. Or at least, he's convinced that _we_ hate _him_."

"Oh. Well, then. Can I apply for the therapist job?"

I nod, barely resisting the urge to correct that extra 'the.' "We're all too immature for this jazz, according to Ian."

Seto walks across the room and sits down in the spinney chair, directing his attention to Quentin. "So-" He stop abruptly, glancing back at us. "Um, I'm gonna need you guys to leave the room now."

We sigh. "Mkay, fine."

But all our ears are pressed against the door as Seto continues, and some of us are actually peeking through the door's windows.

"This may be tough for you – in fact, I'm absolutely positive you'll break down at least once if your mini-challenge was as bad as the guys were making it out to be. But I need you to spill everything. Tell me what happened, when, how, and exactly how each part of your challenge made you feel. Specifics, too. Not just 'Oh, that hurt my feelings,' or 'Man, I was scared.' I want really specific feelings, basically your exact thoughts, like 'I thought I could trust him, and then he betrayed me!' or 'The tone of his voice had me trembling in fear.' I need you to go full-on storyteller mode. Understand?" Seto asks. Oh, wow, he's a lot better at that than we are.

Fifteen minutes, Quentin is bawling his eyes out on the floor while Seto looks on approvingly. "I'm proud of you, Quentin. I know that was hard to do, but it's going to help you a lot."

After Quentin has calmed down, Seto helps him back onto the bed. "Now, Quentin. In your mini-challenge, all of your friends insulted you over and over, said they hated you, wanted you dead," Seto says. Quentin nods. "But can you think of one time before your challenge when they did any of these things?"

Quentin hesitates. "Uh... Well, actually, they insult me a lot-"

Seto sighs. "Seriously. Have they ever hurt you like that and _meant_ it, have they ever been entirely serious?"

The fish – erm, amphibian – closes his eyes, trying to remember a time when we legitimately hated him and wanted him dead. "N-No. I don't think I can name a time when they actually meant the things they were saying." He pauses. "But in the mirror room they meant it-"

Seto cuts him off. "The mirror room was your mini-challenge, Quentin. The GameMaster wanted to put you through emotional pain and see how you handled it. Those weren't really your friends. Those were copies created by the GameMaster. You saw how powerful he was today. The mirror-image spell really isn't that hard to cast. The GameMaster could have fifty versions of Ian created in as little as ten seconds."

Quentin sighs. "Yeah... That makes sense. But, I mean-"

"I know, you won't be able to get over it just like that. Real or not, the images in the mirrors hurt you emotionally. But could you try to start trusting us again?"

Quentin doesn't move for a moment, but then he nods. "Yeah. I can try."

Seto smiles, then glances at the door. "You can come in now, you sneaky idiots."

We smile sheepishly as we swing open the door and pile into the room. "Heh, sorry. Does this make us bad friends?"

"You're already a bad friend, Sky. Quentin needed emotional help and you chose to ask him the same generic question over and over. What kind of therapist does that?" Seto asks, glaring at me disapprovingly.

"Uh, the, uh... the kind that's preoccupied by stupid jokes," I reply, snorting after just _thinking_ about the therapist thingy.

Seto rolls his eyes before turning back to face Quentin. "They're idiots, but they're still your friends," he says. Quentin smiles slightly.

"Uh, Q-Quentin?" Ian asks, stepping out from behind Mitch and Jerome. "I'm, uh, really sorry you had to go through that stupid mini-challenge."

"How did you even know about it in the first place?" Quentin asks. "The second I came out of the room, you were trying to comfort me."

"I was sort of watching the whole thing through your ceiling."

"But it was just another mirror-"

"It was a two-way mirror." Ian lowers his voice slightly. "My challenge was to watch you get hurt by copies of Team Crafted."

"Is that why your copy hated me the most?"

"Yeah. I had to watch a copy of myself hurt you, and there was nothing I could do about it."

I start gently pushing Mitch, Jerome, and Jason towards the door. Seto immediately understands what I'm doing, and he starts to help me push them all out. Once we're outside the Ssunkipz room, Jerome speaks up. "Hey, why'd we have to leave?"

"Ian and Quentin are having a moment," I say, smiling. "And we can't interrupt the Ssunkipz."

* * *

><p><em>lololol, Ssunkipz and therapists, idek what I'm doing, asdljgaslghsdf<em>


	15. Chapter 15

**Games**

**Ch 15: Challenge Two**

Seto smiles before heading towards Ty's bedroom. "Is Ty in here or in your bedroom?" he asks me.

"He's in there," I answer him, and then we all follow him into the room.

The sorcerer strides across the room to Ty's bed, quickly checking the unconscious boy's pulse and then gently lifting his head up. Seto tilts Ty's head around just like I did, checking for bumps or open wounds. "Hey, Sky, could you shine your eyes over Ty's so I can- oh, snap," he cuts himself off, realizing I no longer have my Skybrine powers. I could go get them, but I don't want to show the GameMaster I still have access to them, at least not yet. I would gladly blow my cover to save Ty's life, but not now, not when Seto is only checking for extra injuries.

"Is he okay?" I ask worriedly. I'm not exactly a doctor, there's a rather large chance that I missed some huge injury on Ty.

"Yeah," Seto replies almost immediately, "he's fine. He did hit his head pretty badly on the wall of the round room, but it wasn't enough to cause any permanent damage. Still, an injury like this would usually take weeks to heal if we weren't in the game show." He pauses, glancing at Ty. "Luckily, the Living Quarters in this game show seem to have some kind of healing enchantment. Ty should be awake and capable of walking and talking by tomorrow morning, and he'll be good as new by the day after tomorrow."

I frown. "So technically, the GameMaster could do anything at all to us and then send us back here, to the Living Quarters, and we'd slowly be healed?"

"Yes."

"Then why didn't he just say that when I brought up my mini-mini-challenge back at the round room? He told us that the policy just didn't apply when I was involved, but if I was actually being healed just by standing in the Living Quarters..."

"Actually, I think the healing enchantment was only recently added, like, an hour or two ago."

I sigh. "Oh. Well, at least Ty will be back to normal soon."

Seto nods. "I think we should all go to bed now, though. We've had a long day."

I chuckle. "You bet."

**xXx**

"**PLEASE REPORT TO THE SPAWN AREA."**

"Is he serious? Couldn't he give us a little more than _one day_ to rest!?" I complain loudly, rolling off my buddery bed.

"Life is hard, Sky," Ian sighs as he leans back against my budder couch and closes his eyes, but he's still smiling. He's much happier now that he and Quentin are friends again, but they still haven't gotten together. What a shame.

"Well, I guess we'd better try to wake up Ty," Mitch says, lazily crawling off the budder recliner and towards the door.

"**You have five minutes."**

We all jump up and sprint to the door without another moment's hesitation. Rule number six is not a thing we want to break. "TY!" I yell as we burst through Ty's bedroom door. "STOP BEING UNCONSCIOUS, THE NEXT CHALLENGE IS STARTING!"

Ty only groans, so I stomp up to his bed and push him off. Seto glares at me, but he doesn't actually scold me, so I'm guessing it's okay for me to push an injured, unconscious person off a bed. "Wha-?" Ty drawls as he slowly sits up on the floor.

"Good morning, Ty. Ready for Challenge Two?" I ask, walking around to the other side of the bed and holding out a hand for him to grab.

"Wha- Already!?" His eyes widen and he jumps to his feet, ignoring my hand. Then he groans, pressing three fingers against his temple. "Ugh, my head..."

"Yeah, you kind of got thrown into a wall, but Seto says you'll be okay," I inform him. He starts to sway a bit, and I reach out and steady him. "Eventually."

Ty closes his eyes and holds onto my arm to keep from falling. "Right. How am I supposed to do the Challenge?"

"Don't worry, you'll be fine. I'll stay with you and make sure you don't get hurt."

He smiles a little. "Thanks."

"No problem. We'd better get going, though. The GameMaster said we had five minutes about five minutes ago."

He opens his eyes. "Let's go, then, we don't want to be late."

**xXx**

"**You're late, and I'm willing to bet it's Skybrine's fault."**

I facepalm, dragging my hand down my face slowly. "I am so done."

"**No, you aren't. This is just the beginning of the Challenge; in fact, you haven't even started yet!" **

I exhale and look up at the GameMaster. "So, what's the Challenge?"

"**Behind this door is a hallway with four rooms branching off of it. There are two of you for every room, and once you've settled in your room, we will continue with the rest of Challenge Two,"** the GameMaster tells us.

"Do we need to go into a certain one?" Jerome asks.

"**Yes, I'm glad you asked! But you'll know which room is yours when you see it,"** the GameMaster assures him. **"And there will be no advantages in this round, since everyone failed at the mini-challenge except for Mitch, Jerome, and Seto. Mitch and Jerome are disqualified, anyways, because apparently Wobbie and the mobs didn't scare you at all, and Seto used his magic, so he doesn't count."** Then he turns to where the blood red door used to be. Now there's a neon orange door in its place, and the words "CHALLENGE NUMBER TWO" are printed above it in blocky, dark blue letters. **"Are you ready?"**

"I guess so," I mutter.

"**I wasn't asking you."**

"Then who were you asking?"

"**Everyone _except_ you."**

I grind my teeth together and stomp through the orange door, slowing when I remember that I was going to stick by Ty. I swear, if that stupid GameMaster put us in different rooms-

Oh, my. The GameMaster was right, it's fairly easy to tell which room is whose. For example, the first dark oak door on the left has the name "MITCH" printed on it in neon, flashing red. Below it is Jerome's name in a flashing shade of light brown. On the second door on the left, Seto's purple name blinks brightly, and below it, Jason's sky-blue name. The first door on the right has Ian's name in dark blue and Quentin's name in orange, and the second door has Ty's name in neon green. I glance down, expecting to see my name in bright yellow.

Nope. Instead I see "SKYBRINE" printed in blood red. I facepalm. "Seriously? How hard would it be to make the stupid name budder-colored?"

"Dude, don't say the word," Ty warns me, nudging my side.

I shake my head. "Nah, it's fine. Rule number seven – I think – is that all rules are void during Challenges."

"Doesn't that make rule number seven void as well?"

"That's too confusing, let's just move on with our lives."

"Okay, whatever," Ty laughs, pulling me toward our room. "What do you think we'll be doing?"

"I have no idea. Well, I mean, I can assume it will be either painful or life-threatening, but that's all I'm sure of," I reply, opening the door for him and then closing it behind us. The room has light blue wallpaper and a floor of sandy-colored tiles. There's a dark blue couch at the end of the room, and I lead Ty, who is starting to look kind of pale, over to it. "Here, sit down. You shouldn't be moving so much right after going unconscious for a whole day."

"Thanks," he says quietly as he sits down. I plop down next to him and swing my feet while glancing around the room. It's pretty boring, honestly. The light, which is hanging from the ceiling, looks interesting though. I mean, it's a pretty standard light fixture, nothing too special, but the bulb is really strange-looking.

"**IS EVERYONE SETTLED IN!?"**

"SHUT THE FLIP UP, MAN. YES, WE ARE ALL SETTLED IN," I scream in reply. Ty presses his headphones against his ears and I smile apologetically.

"**Then it's time to continue the Challenge!"** It really hasn't even started yet, but whatever. There's a puff of smoke near the front of the room by the door, and then the GameMaster pops up. **"Oh, you two. You're going to be the most fun."**

"Uh... What exactly _is_ the Challenge?" I ask hesitantly, not at all liking the creepy grin on his face.

"**It really isn't that hard. Quite simple, actually."**

"Simple has never been synonymous with easy."

"**Woah, Skybrine. You almost sounded smart for a minute, there."** I glare at him. **"Anyways, all you have to do is admit to each other and me that you have no caring feelings, friendly or otherwise, for the person sitting next to you. And you have to make me believe you."**

"Hmm. Can I sit by you, then?" I ask. It'll be no problem to say that I have no caring feelings for the GameMaster. I hate him with a deep and burning passion, honestly.

The GameMaster shoots me a glare. **"Not funny, Skybrine. You have to admit that you don't care about Ty, and Ty must say the same about you."**

"Mmkay, I don't care about Ty," I say, shrugging.

"**Idiot. I said you have to make me believe it. You have to actually mean what you say."**

"What? Dude, I hardly ever mean what I say."

The GameMaster grins. **"It's okay if you can't do it now. I have ways of changing your minds."**

Uh oh, that doesn't sound good.

* * *

><p><em>MUAHAHAHA<em>


	16. Chapter 16

_**WARNING: **In case you couldn't tell by the cliffy from last chapter, FEELS ALERT. And pain. A little. Sort of, but it's not a huge deal._

**Games**

**Ch 16: Say It and Mean It**

"I honestly don't think you'll be able to change our minds. At least, not mine. He's my best friend! How could I _not _care about him?" I ask, raising an eyebrow. Honestly! And, aside from being my best friend, he's also the love of my life. So there's that.

The GameMaster lifts a hand and waves it toward Ty and I, and we simultaneously fall off the couch and to our knees. **"Say it,"** he growls, **"and mean it."**

"I-I can't!" Ty squeaks. A smile creeps onto my face.

"And neither can I, so this is pretty pointless," I say.

The GameMaster smirks. Then he makes a fist with his hand, and Ty and I gasp as pain is inflicted upon us. I don't know what's happening to Ty, but I'm entranced as yellow lines crawl up my arm from my hands to my shoulders and then down my torso and up onto my face. Then I'm slightly less entranced as the lines begin to burn intensely.

After a few seconds of burning, they turn ice cold, and I suck in a breath as my entire body seems to freeze. A couple of seconds later, they're burning again, but this time they're so hot that I scream out in pain. "St-Stop!"

"**Not until you admit that you don't care about Ty at all. And remember, you have to convince me. You have to mean it."**

I grit my teeth and shake my head, and the GameMaster scowls at me before turning to look at Ty, who is silent but has his eyes closed. Suddenly he cries out, and his eyes fly open. "M-Make it stop!" he begs, and I want to help him so badly, but I can't. I can't even hold him, the GameMaster has me locked in place.

"**Say it, Ty. Say that you have no feelings whatsoever for Skybrine."**

"I-I don't have any f-feelings for Skybrine," Ty stutters, and his firm tone makes me believe him.

But the GameMaster snarls at Ty, **"No! You fool, I meant _Sky!_ Say that you have no feelings for _Sky_!"** Oh.

Ty considers 'Sky' a completely different person than 'Skybrine?'

For some reason I find that really sweet.

"I can't!" Ty shouts.

The GameMaster growls. **"Close your eyes and imagine Sky doing it," he commands.**

Ty cries out again in pain. "D-Doing what?"

"**Causing you all this pain!"**

The GameMaster forces Ty's eyes closed, and Ty lets out a horrible scream. I can only imagine the images that are being forced into his head, the pain that he's going through. "T-That's not Sky!" Ty protests as tears run down his face. Oh my Notch, Ty, my baby!

"**It is!"** the GameMaster insists.

"It's not, Ty!" I promise him. "I would never hurt you!"

The GameMaster glances at me, and I can practically see the gears turning in his head as he thinks up some kind of twisted plan, I don't even know. Then his eyes light up. Quickly, he forces my mouth shut so I can no longer speak, and then he turns back to Ty. **"But it is him, Ty,"** he says in a low voice. **"Of course it is."**

Ty shakes his head frantically as more tears leave tracks on his perfect face. "N-No! H-He wouldn't do that!"

"**But he would."** Ty takes in a couple of shaky breaths, breathes out carefully. Then he cries out again. **"Say it, Ty."**

"I can't!"

"**Why not!? He's hurting you!" **the GameMaster yells. Ty screams again.

"I-I- No!" Oh good Notch, I almost want him to say it just so he won't have to go through this anymore.

"**Say. It. Say it and I'll make the pain stop."**

"B-But-"

"**Say it and mean it."**

Ty takes a deep breath, opens his eyes, and says easily, "I have no feelings whatsoever for Sky. He means nothing to me."

Ahem, clean up on aisle four, it seems my heart has shattered all over the ground.

I swallow hard as tears brim in my eyes, and I force them back because he had to do it; it's not like Ty had a choice. Just moments ago I was hoping he would say it just to stop his pain, so why am I so heartbroken now?

A sick smile spreads across the GameMaster's face. **"Good job, Ty."** Ty closes his eyes and breathes out slowly. At least he's not in pain anymore.

"**So, Skybrine, now that you've seen how it's done, are you ready for your turn?"** the GameMaster asks, raising an eyebrow.

"Nope," I reply quickly. "Definitely not. Can I just forfeit this Challenge? Like, I don't even want to win."

"**Well, sucks for you,"** the GameMaster says, pressing his lips together. **"Close your eyes."**

"But I don't wanna- Eep!" I shriek as he forces my eyes shut. "Dang it."

"**I overpower you, boy. Now, imagine Ty causing you this pain."**

"What pain? I don't-" I cut myself off with a screech. "Ack! St-Stop!"

"**Imagine Ty standing over you, pressing his hand to your cheek."** Aw, that's so cute! I wish Ty would- **"Now imagine him transmitting this pain into your soul."** Oh my.

"No, I don't really feel like it-" I begin, but then a very vivid image of Ty appears in front of my eyes (which are still closed). The Picture-Ty reaches forward and presses his hand against my cheek, and then shock waves of pain run through me, and I scream in pain.

"**Say you don't care about him,"** the GameMaster demands. **"He doesn't care about you. It's only fair that you return the non-feelings."**

"Th-That hardly even m-makes sense!" I get out, clenching my hands into fists to try to distract myself from the pain. It's not working, it's not anywhere near working.

"**Sure it does. Look what he's doing to you. He doesn't care that you're in pain. He's the one _causing_ the pain."**

"N-No, he's not! Y-You are!" I argue. The Picture-Ty puts his other hand on my other cheek, and more pain attacks me. "Agh!"

"**Just say it, and the pain will stop."**

"Fine! I don't give a crap about Ty!" I yell.

"**Oh, come on. Not even a stupid squid would believe that. You have to _mean it_, Skybrine."**

"Yeah, well, I don't, and I never will, so I guess we're just gonna sit here being useless for all eternity," I respond through gritted teeth. He still hasn't let up on the pain.

The GameMaster lets out a frustrated breath, and the pain subsides. I sigh with relief as I open my eyes. **"Okay, Plan B,"** the GameMaster grumbles, switching his gaze from me to Ty. Oh, good Notch, what now? **"Skybrine, you have twenty seconds to admit that you have no feelings whatsoever for Ty. If you don't,"** he pauses here, probably for dramatic effect, before continuing with, **"I'll kill him."**

My jaw drops. "Y-You- You'll _kill him_!?" I shout. Ty looks terrified.

"**Yes. I will send waves of pain through his body, and when the clock hits twenty seconds, I will kill him."**

"You wouldn't."

"**I definitely would. After all, I've done much worse in these games,"** he chuckles.

I shake my head as he makes a large timer appear on the wall. He sets it to twenty seconds and then focuses his attention on Ty. "N-No, you can't! This is ridiculous!"

"**No it's not. Just say that you don't care about him, and I'll spare him."**

"But that action in itself would be caring about him! If I didn't care about him, I would just let him die, right?"

"**I guess that means you'll have to work twice as hard at making me believe you," **the GameMaster says, smirking evilly. I gape at him. **"Ready? Set? Go!"**

Ty cries out in pain and squeezes his eyes shut. "I don't care about Ty!" I shout.

"**I don't believe you."**

"I have no feelings whatsoever for Ty!"

"**Completely unbelievable."**

"Ty means nothing to me!"

"**Ten seconds."**

Argh, I'm not good at this! I'm trying, I truly am! I set my jaw and try again, "I-I, Ty isn't my acquaintance, Ty isn't my friend, Ty isn't my crush, Ty is literally nothing to me! You can just kill him for all I care!"

Ty suddenly falls silent, and I worry that I've failed. But the GameMaster only smiles. **"Congratulations. You have both successfully completed Challenge Two. You may return to the Living Quarters whenever you like." **He disappears in a puff of smoke.

I breathe a sigh of relief. "T-Ty? Are you okay?" I ask, falling out of my kneeling position and crawling towards my friend.

He takes a shaky breath and then stands up, exiting the room without a word.

Well, snap.

* * *

><p><em>MUAHAHHHHA THAT WAS SOOOO MUCH FUN TO WRITE<em>

_BUT GUYS SERIOUSLY_

"I would never hurt you!"

*five seconds later*

'I can practically see the gears turning in the GM's head as he thinks up another evil plan...'

_Foreshadowing much?_

_LOLOLOLOL I ADORE THIS BOOK_


	17. Chapter 17

**Games**

**Ch 17: The Anti-Merome Chapter**

Ian and Quentin spill out of their room, bawling their eyes out. "I'm so sorry, Ian!"

"It's alright, I'm sorry, too, Quentin!"

They attack each other with hugs, and I raise an eyebrow. "Uh, w-what happened to y-you guys?" I ask, still not completely recovered from the Challenge.

"The G-GameMaster took control of our b-bodies and forced us to f-fight each other!" Quentin sniffles.

"He s-said it was to the d-death, but he seemed a little preoccupied, so we were able to b-break free and control ourselves before any s-s-serious damage was done," Ian adds.

"And then afterward, the GameMaster h-healed us and said he had to go f-focus more on one of the other groups," Quentin says.

Who wants to bet he was focusing on my group? It must take a lot of energy to kill someone in twenty seconds.

"What happened in y-your Challenge?" Ian asks.

"U-Uh... Oh, just stuff. Nothing as bad as yours," I tell them, moving to the other side of the hallway. "Who do you think will finish next?"

"No idea," Quentin replies.

Right as he says this, Mitch and Jerome fling their door open and tumble out. They glance at each other for a moment and then jump to opposite sides of the hallway. "ACK! GET AWAY FROM ME, YOU FILTHY BACCA!" Mitch screeches, drawing a sword that I didn't know he had.

"AHH! DON'T COME ANY CLOSER, YOU EVIL HUMAN!" Jerome shrieks, spinning around to face me. "ARGH! ANOTHER HUMAN!" My eyes widen and I step back. Jerome turns again only to be faced with Ian's confused expression. "ACK! HUMANS EVERYWHERE!" He glances at Quentin. "Fish! Protect me! We're allies, right!? No hard feelings about my diet of raw fish?" he asks, hiding behind Quentin and peeking out at us 'humans.'

Quentin tenses slightly at the 'fish' comment, but he gets over it quickly. "Jerome, Sky and Ian aren't going to hurt you. I can't really speak for Mitch, though," he trails off, looking at Mitch's drawn sword.

"If the creature comes anywhere near me, I will not hesitate to stab it," Mitch threatens. Ooh, ouch. He called Jerome an 'it.' That must hurt.

"And I will rip him to shreds if he takes a single step toward me," Jerome replies, flashing his canines. Kay, maybe it didn't hurt as much as I thought.

"Guys, what's going on?" I ask.

Mitch growls. "The stupid bacca tribe attacked my village, killed my family," he snarls, staring directly at Jerome. "And now I'm going to kill the last bacca standing."

"You attacked us first!" Jerome argues, stepping out from behind Quentin and baring his teeth. "You're the one who deserves death, you heartless prince!"

"Prince?" Ian whispers. We ignore him, because that is not important at the moment.

"Woah, woah, calm yourselves," I step in, glancing at the two of them. "What happened in that room?"

"That dirty animal's species attacked my home village in the middle of the night. I was only eight when it happened, but the freaking _baccas_," he spits the word, "didn't give a rip. They murdered my parents right in front of me, and then they tried to kill me, too."

"The humans started it!" Jerome cries out. "The freaking humans figured that because we're different, we're evil. They forced our hand. Our attack was just one battle that happened to end one war, and the humans weren't the only ones with casualties." Jerome hisses at Mitch, "This freakling here killed my father."

"Right after he tore my parents to shreds!" Mitch adds. "I was only avenging them! As soon as I stumbled out of the house and into the streets – which were a huge mess, by the way – without my parents, the rest of my village assumed that their leaders were dead, because only over their cold, dead, bodies would my parents have allowed me to go outside alone during a battle."

"So the imbecilic village went even farther into a panic than they already had," Jerome explains, not moving his gaze from Mitch's face, "because they knew this moron wouldn't be able to take his parents' place."

"I was eight!" Mitch yells.

Jerome glares at him. "And already you were a murderer."

"As were you!"

"At least I didn't kill people without good reason! You're almost as wicked as your stupid, malevolent parents!"

"Shut _up_!"

I run forward and hold Mitch back while Quentin pushes Jerome back against the wall. "I think we need help from Therapist Seto!" I shout frantically as Mitch fights to get away from me and towards Jerome.

"LET ME GO! LET ME AT HIM, SKY!" Mitch screams. "LET ME TEAR HIM TO PIECES JUST LIKE HIS FATHER DID TO MY PARENTS!"

"CUT IT OUT, QUENTIN!" Jerome screeches. "LET ME GO SO I CAN RIP HIM LIMB FROM LIMB FOR MY FATHER!"

"SETO! NOW WOULD BE A GOOD TIME TO FINISH YOUR CHALLENGE!" Ian shrieks as Jerome tries to bite him.

A few seconds of struggling and threatening later, Seto walks out of the fourth room. He's holding up Jason, who is a mess of tears and would probably collapse without Seto's support. "Uh... You guys okay there?" Seto asks, glancing between Mitch and Jerome.

I huff. "Do we _look_ okay? Mitch and Jerome want to murder each other!"

"Why?" Seto asks with wide eyes as he sets Jason's sobbing form down on the floor.

"The GameMaster did something – I don't even know – and now they're super mad. Mitch thinks Jerome killed his parents, and Jerome thinks Mitch killed his father."

"Because he did!" Mitch and Jerome yell simultaneously.

"Right..," Seto says cautiously, looking at the two. "So, is this something about your past?"

"HE ATTACKED MY VILLAGE!"

"THE HUMANS DESTROYED MY SPECIES!"

"Got it. Okay, so the GameMaster must have made you guys relive the night when the baccas invaded Mitch's village." Seto sighs. "Now, I doubt the GameMaster showed you what happened after the initial attack, but I still have to know for sure. Guys?"

Mitch, still seething with anger, shakes his head, and Jerome does the same. "All we went through was the main part of the attack," Mitch says.

"Okay. Now, this is going to be difficult, since you two can't remember anything before the game show other than the attack. But you're going to have to at least _try_ to remember what happened after the attack on Mitch's village. Close your eyes and try to focus on that part of your memory."

"Oh, you mean the part that's nonexistent?" Mitch snaps. Seto sighs again.

"Just try, okay?"

Mitch and Jerome reluctantly close their eyes, and Mitch relaxes slightly as he stops fighting to get free. "A-Alright," Mitch begins. "After the attack... After Jerome's nasty murderer of a father killed my parents-" Jerome cuts him off with a growl, and Mitch grits his teeth but restarts. "After my parents were killed, I ran out onto the street, and... a-and... And I elbowed my way through the crowd of people and baccas, looking for... looking for... for their leader. For the baccas' leader."

Seto nods. "Good, good. Keep going."

"And... um... And I saw an older-looking bacca outside the village church, and he was pushing a much younger bacca inside-"

"The little bacca was me," Jerome puts in. "And the older one was my grandfather."

"Right. A-And after I saw them, I walked up to them, trying to look confident, and... uh..."

"And you punched my grandfather in the face."

"Yes, I did. And it wasn't hard, either, because your grandfather was a weak little-"

"Focus!" Seto commands. Mitch and Jerome fall silent. "Continue."

"So after I punched his grandfather, his grandfather yelled for him to hide inside the church, and then he turned back towards me, and he laughed because I was just a kid. And at first he didn't want to hurt me, but then I drew my sword-"

"And you tried to kill him," Jerome finishes for him, barely containing his obvious anger. "But my grandfather was _not_ weak, and you _were_-"

"I was not _weak_!"

"FOCUS!"

Jerome sighs, and Mitch lets out an angry breath before saying, "And then the old animal stabbed me with his diamond axe-"

"With Betty."

"With Betty, and I fell to the ground. And... and... what happened next?"

"My grandfather left you there," Jerome takes over, closing his eyes again to try to get a hold on his memories. "He didn't want to kill you, because you were just a kid. Admittedly, my grandfather was a bit of an idiot. One of the humans saw their dead leaders' son crying on the ground, and they attacked my grandfather."

"And they killed him," Mitch says.

"Yes. They killed him. Your people killed him."

"Keep going," Seto urges them.

"Then another bacca killed that human, and I crawled into the church, forgetting that the bacca kid was still in there," Mitch continues. "And... and... Um..."

"Hmm, I can't... I... um..," Jerome trails off, failing at remembering his past. I mean, they _did_ get their memories wiped at the beginning of the game show, I'm surprised they've made it this far. Whatever the GameMaster put them through must have helped them remember a little.

"I'm guessing that was when this murderous animal jumped out of his hiding spot and tried to kill me just like his father and grandfather did," Mitch says, glaring at Jerome.

"I'm not murderous, and neither were they!" Jerome protests. "If anyone's murderous, you are!"

"Please, me? I was defending myself, I was _eight_!"

"And so was I! It's not my fault you malicious humans waged war on the baccas!"

"_Malicious_!?" Mitch yells. "We aren't evil, we were just trying to rid the world of your sinful species!"

"Just because we're soft and furry doesn't mean we're full of fury!" Jerome shouts, looking frustrated.

Mitch scoffs. "Oh, yeah, how many times did your stupid grandfather tell you that? Count it up, and you've got a fraction of the amount of times he lied to you about your species."

"I hope Herobrine has room in the Nether, because that's where you're going," Jerome growls, breaking away from Quentin.

"If I'm gonna be burning in the Nether, you're gonna be burning right next to me," Mitch sneers, shoving me away. I stumble back a few steps before I can regain my footing.

"Seto!" I screech. "Do something!"

* * *

><p><em>Muahah, this chapter and the next were really fun, too. :3<em>

_OMIGOSH UR REACTIONS TO LAST CHAPTER THO_

_THE STORY WAS LITERALLY ONLY UP FOR LIKE FIVE MINUTES AND PEOPLE WERE ALREADY CRYING AT BURGER KING XD_

_Baiii, my be-ay-yoo-tiful Rulers! ALSO I AM GETTING RELIABLE WIFI TODAY YAYAAYAYAY_


	18. Chapter 18

**Games**

**Ch 18: MunchingUniverse :D**

Seto steps in between the two ex-friends. "Guys! Get a grip! You can't just 'guess' that Jerome attacked you after you entered the church, Mitch," Seto scolds. "Both of you, go back to remembering."

Mitch grumbles, but closes his eyes again. "Okay, okay, fine, geez. Uh... Ugh, my head..."

"Ow," Jerome winces. "I don't want to remember if it's going to hurt. How can I kill the human if I'm hurt?"

"You aren't going to kill the human, and the human's name is Mitch," Seto says. "And Mitch is your best friend."

Mitch snorts and opens his eyes. "Yeah, right."

"Eyes. Closed."

"Fine, fine." Mitch closes his eyes and wrinkles his nose. "Uh..."

"Okay, I was hiding at the top of the stairs in the church," Jerome offers.

"Mmhmm," Seto confirms. "Go on."

"And I crawled over to the corner of the first floor, because the old bacca had stabbed my left leg and the right side of my torso," Mitch puts in. "And..."

"And..." Jerome tries, squeezing his eyes shut more tightly.

"And then... you... helped me?" Mitch asks, his eyes flying open.

Jerome, who looks just as surprised as Mitch, nods slowly as he opens his eyes. "Y-Yeah. I helped you." His eyes harden. "Well, I tried. But you tried to attack me-"

"And failed epicly," Mitch admits. "I was eight. I had just been stabbed twice. I _was_ weak."

"Right. So, so you failed, and..."

"And you tried to help me _again_," Mitch sighs. "And you _did_ help me. I was a sobbing mess on the floor, finally breaking down after being strong for a good half hour."

"And I was a wreck on the inside because I had watched you kill my father right before my grandfather led me to the church and pushed me inside," Jerome says.

Tears are gathering in Mitch's eyes. "But you helped me anyways because you were too nice to avenge your father, you were too nice to leave a kid your age bleeding, dying in the lobby of the church."

"And you stopped trying to attack me because you were too broken by your parents' deaths, too tired and injured to fight any longer."

"And you made me better," Mitch says, smiling through the tears. "You bandaged me up, and then we hid in the back of the church while the battle raged on because neither of us wanted to be a part of the fighting anymore."

"And when the battle ended, no one was left alive. No one but us." Jerome frowns as he remembers it all. "And I was scared out of my mind, but I knew humans didn't like baccas so I didn't expect you to want to stay with me, and I didn't even ask."

"But when it was time for us to split up, go our separate ways, survive in the world, I stuck by you, because despite the battle, the war, I trusted you," Mitch chokes out. "I still trust you."

"And we became friends," Jerome says, stumbling towards Mitch.

"Best friends," Mitch sobs, falling into Jerome's open arms. The two sink to the floor, bawling into each other's shoulders. "I'm so sorry, Biggums! I didn't mean anything I said about you or your father or your grandfather or the baccas!"

"And I didn't mean a word of what I said about you, your parents, or the other humans! I'm so, so sorry, buddy!" Jerome cries.

"Well, then," I say quietly.

"Um, since Merome is okay again, Quentin and I are okay, and Sky seems to be fine, would you like to explain why Jason is still sobbing on the floor?" Ian asks Seto.

Seto's eyes widen, and he looks up at me. "Sky? You didn't tell them about your Challenge?"

I look down at my feet.

"What? What happened in Sky's Challenge?" Quentin asks.

"We'll talk about it later," Seto answers carefully. "Let's just say, Sky is _not _fine." He glances at Jason before moving to sit by him on the floor, and Jason wraps his arms around him and cries into his sorcerer's robe. "I honestly have no idea what Jason went through. The GameMaster said we weren't 'connected' enough – apparently the fact that Jason and I aren't soul mates like the rest of you sort of screwed up his plan." Quentin, Ian, and I blush, but Mitch and Jerome are still too preoccupied to give a crap that Seto just implied they were in love. "Anyways, the GameMaster put us into different Challenges. Jason did who-knows-what, and I had to watch some of your Challenges."

"Which parts?" Ian asks.

"I saw part of yours and Quentin's and the majority of Sky and Ty's. Evidently, the GameMaster expected me to freak out over the pain you were going through. And trust me, I was definitely worried for you guys – I was making tons of mental notes to have therapy sessions with you later, because apparently I'm a great therapist – but I wasn't flipping out like he wanted me to. I just sat there and watched it," Seto says, shrugging. "A few minutes after I finished my Challenge, the GameMaster popped into the room carrying a bawling Jason, and then we exited the room."

I frown as I walk across the hallway to sit by Jason. "You alright, Jay?"

Jason shakes his head, moving away from Seto and towards me instead. I've always been a lot closer to Jason than Seto has, so I guess it makes sense.

"Come on, Jason, you have to tell us what happened," I say quietly, running my fingers through his curly brown hair. I don't think I've seen him with his helmet on at any time during the game show.

"T-T-Tyler!" Jason wails, burying his head in my neck.

"What about Tyler?" I ask, assuming he means MunchingBrotato.

"The- The GameMaster k-k-killed h-him, over and o-over and over," Jason trails off, going back to crying.

I frown. I really, really hate the GameMaster right now. Well, I hate him all the time, actually. "Jason, it's okay, Tyler isn't dead."

"Y-Yes he is!" Jason sobs.

"No, he's not," I insist quietly. "It was a trick. The GameMaster just wanted to hurt you. And he did, didn't he? You care a whole lot about Tyler, don't you?"

Jason sniffs and nods.

"I think he cares a lot about you, too," I whisper in his ear so the others can't hear. "I've seen the way he looks at you, and it's not the way a friend looks at a friend." It's the way _I_ look at Ty.

"R-Really?" Jason asks, looking up at me and wiping the tears off his face with his sleeve.

"Really," I confirm, smiling slightly and nodding.

"We should probably go back to the Living Quarters," Ian says, seeing that Jason has calmed down.

I nod my agreement as I stand up, bringing Jason with me. "Are you okay now?" I ask.

"Uh-huh," he sniffles, wrapping his arms around me and burying his head in my chest.

"Alright, let's go back to the Living Quart- TY!" I suddenly shout. "Ty's alone in the Living Quarters, and he was recently thrown against a wall, and he was almost killed in our Challenge, and we have to go _now_!" I move towards the door, pulling Jason with me.

Seto runs over to me and grabs my arm, tugging on it to stop me from moving any farther. "Sky, I don't think Ty is really in the mood to see you right now," he says softly. Then he glances at Jason, who is latched onto my arm. "And I _know_ he isn't in the mood to see you walk into the Living Quarters with Jason pressed up against your side."

"Why not?" I ask, genuinely confused. I mean, I know that Ty isn't happy with me, but why would he be mad at Jason? Jason and Ty are really good friends!

"Just trust me on this one, alright?"

I sigh. "Alright, fine. Could you make sure he's okay, then?"

"Of course."

* * *

><p><em>Lololol. Poor, oblivious Sky. :3<em>


	19. Chapter 19

**Games**

**Ch 19: Worst GIF Ever**

"Is he alright? 'Cause he was really pale before the Challenge, and he didn't look so good after it, either, and-"

"Sky! Calm down, he's fine," Seto says, shaking his head and smiling.

I frown. "Why are you smiling? Most of the people in this house just went through traumatizing Challenges!"

He laughs. "It's just that- well, you and Ty-" Seto snorts, shaking his head again.

"What? Tell me!"

"Oh, it's nothing," Seto says, still smiling. "You can go see Ty if you want, but I don't know how he'll react. Physically, he's perfectly fine, but emotionally..? He _seems_ fine, but after watching your Challenge..."

"Yeah," I sigh. "I know." I jump off my bed, moving toward my bedroom door. "I guess I'll try to talk to him."

"Good luck," Seto says, his smile fading as I walk past him toward Ty's room.

"Thanks," I whisper as I knock on Ty's door.

"'Sup?" Ty asks, throwing the door open with a grin. When he sees me, the smile drops off his face, and he frowns instead. "Oh. Hi."

"H-Hi," I stammer, not exactly sure what I want to say.

"So, did you just randomly knock on my door, or did you actually want to tell me something?" Ty asks, raising an eyebrow questioningly.

"U-Uh, I, U-Um, I just, I- Can we talk about the Challenge?" I blurt.

"What's to talk about?" Ty asks. "We just did the Challenge, there's nothing else to it."

"No, but there _is_!" I argue, desperately wanting back the Ty who doesn't hate me. "Can we please just go back to how we were _before_ the Challenge?"

To my dismay, Ty shakes his head. "No, no we can't."

"Why not?"

"Because things have changed, and we can't act like they haven't."

"Ty, please! I just want my best friend back, please. I didn't mean it when I said I didn't care about you. I just didn't want you to get hurt anymore!"

"I meant it."

"What?"

"I meant what I said in the Challenge."

My breath hitches. "The part where you s-said you couldn't 'say it and mean it?'" I ask hopefully.

"No. The part where I said I didn't care. The part where I said you meant nothing to me."

Oops, there goes my heart again. Someone call the janitor, it isn't safe to have shattered organs spread across the floor.

"B-But, T-Ty-"

"Sorry."

"But we're-"

"Hey, Ian, Quentin, wanna go explore the grounds?" Ty calls, pushing past me to greet the two. They've just stepped out of their room.

"Sure," Ian says. "Is Sky coming?"

"Nah."

So while the three walk out the front door, I stand there in front of Ty's door, frozen in place. After a minute or two, Seto walks down the stairs, sees me, and immediately walks over to stand by me. He doesn't ask me what's wrong, he doesn't tell me it'll be okay; he just hugs me and allows me to cry.

And cry, I do.

**xXx**

"**WELCOME!"** I don't even bother to cover my ears or yell back at him. Ever since the incident with Ty, I've sort of just felt numb. Thankfully, the GameMaster gave us an entire week before he announced the next mini-challenge.

Sadly, I spent that entire week crying on my budder bed.

But I'm getting better, I am. I think I'm almost over Ty!

Shut up and celebrate with me, I don't give a crap that the tremor in my voice makes that last statement entirely unbelievable.

"**This is your second mini-challenge. Remember, this is not a full Challenge, so all rules still apply,"** the GameMaster explains. **"The two players who will have no choice but to compete in this mini-challenge are... Quentin and Skybrine!"**

"Ugh, dang it," Quentin groans, throwing his head back. Ian squeezes his hand reassuringly.

I just stare at the GameMaster, not bothering to protest or even process the fact that I was chosen last week.

But Seto does it for me. "Uh, sir, Sky did it last week. Doesn't that disqualify him?"

The GameMaster rolls his eyes. **"Of course not. There are seven mini-challenges and eight of you. If two of you are chosen to be forced to compete in each mini-challenge, some of you are going to have to go twice."**

Seto and a few of the others – meaning everyone but Ty – give me worried glances, but I just shrug. "Seems fair," I say. My voice is hoarse from crying and disuse.

"Are you okay?" Jason asks. Ty won't even look at me.

I nod. "I'm probably just getting a cold or something," I lie.

"**Who, other than Quentin and Skybrine, wants to compete?"** the GameMaster asks.

"What's the challenge?" Mitch asks.

"**This mini-challenge tests your mental and emotional strength. You will be asked to solve a simple riddle or word problem. Each of you will have ten riddles, and the first one finished wins."**

"Simple enough," Jerome says, shrugging. "Wanna do it, Biggums?"

"Definitely!" Mitch and Jerome raise their hands.

Ian glances at Quentin and then raises his hand, and Seto and Jason exchange a look before raising their hands as well. Finally, Ty sighs and puts his hand up in the air.

"Good, you're all doing it again!" the GameMaster cheers. **"You will be teleported to the Riddle Rooms in approximately three seconds."**

_PIGGLEBIGGLEBOOMZAPBANGTSSSS!_

I stand alone in a dark room with light gray walls and a black floor and ceiling. Everything is silent. There's a large screen in front of me and a brown leather recliner behind me, but I don't bother to sit down. Instead I just stare at the screen, waiting for something to show up so I can get this mini-challenge over with.

The screen suddenly lights up, and dark green text floats across it to sit in the middle of a light gray background. "If Mitch has three apples and he gives two to Ty, then what is the circumference of the sun?" it says.

"Yes," I answer out loud. Nothing happens. Am I supposed to push something on the screen, or what..?

"Please type in your answer," an electronic female voice instructs as a keyboard pops out of the recliner.

I sit down in the chair and quickly type in the three letter word. "Yes."

"Congratulations," the electronic voice says. "You have completed the first riddle."

Well. That was easy. Only nine more to go.

The dark green words disappear and are replaced by light blue text. It reads, "Imagine you are on a boat in the middle of the ocean. You are surrounded by man-eating squids, and your boat is about to break. How can you put an end to this situation?"

I type in, "Kill all the squids with my Majestic Budder Sword."

"Incorrect answer. You have two more chances."

Okay, then. I think for a minute, puffing up my cheeks with air, before I finally get an idea. Of course! It's so freaking obvious! "Stop imagining," I type.

"Congratulations. You have completed your second riddle."

The blue text bounces away, and dark red words slide onto the screen. They say, "You are a bus driver. At your first stop, you drop off three kids. At the second, you let off four and pick up two-"

I stop reading. I've heard this one. The last question in the riddle is "What color are the bus driver's eyes?" and since _I_'m the bus driver, he has the same eye color as me.

Wait, what color are my eyes? They've been glowing yellow for my entire life – until the game show. Now that I no longer have my glowing eyes, what's my eye color?

Erm... Maybe if I just type in "the same color as mine..."

"Congratulations. You have completed your third riddle."

Phew, that was close.

The red letters fall off the screen to make space for brown ones that spell out the words, "A black dog is crossing the street. A man in a car is racing down the street, but he screeches to a halt before he can hit the dog. The man did not have his headlights on. The streetlights are off. There are no nearby lights of any kind. How did the man see the dog?"

Oh, I've heard this one, I know I have. Maybe... Argh, I have no idea. I'll just guess. "The dog was wearing a reflective collar."

"Incorrect answer. You have two more chances."

Snap. Kay, how 'bout, "The man is Herobrine/Skybrine and has glowing eyes."

"Incorrect answer. You have one more chance."

Dang it. Come on, Sky, think! What if-

OH! Oh, of course! It's during the day! The man doesn't need lights to see the dog because it's in the middle of the day!

I hastily type in the words, "It's the middle of the dau."

"Incorrect answer. You have run out of chances."

Stupid typo.

"Please sit still and watch the video," the electronic voice says as a metal strip flies out of the recliner's right armrest and attaches to the left one. I find myself trapped on the recliner, unable to move as the video begins on the screen. Reluctantly, I turn my attention to the screen.

"_I meant what I said in the Challenge."_

"_The part where you s-said you couldn't 'say it and mean it?'"_

"_No. The part where I said I didn't care. The part where I said you meant nothing to me."_

I suck in a breath as I realize the video is replaying the audio from a week ago when I tried to talk to Ty about the Challenge. The audio replays over and over until I feel like, five years from now, I would still be able to quote exactly what Ty and I said in those moments.

Then the audio changes, as does the blank screen. Ty's face pops up there. He looks confident and sure of himself as he says calmly, _"I have no feelings whatsoever for Sky. He means nothing to me."_

And the video is on a seemingly never-ending loop.

* * *

><p><em>Lol, but how funny would it be if this were an actual GIF and I could put it on the side? *sigh*<em>

_Except if Sky found it, his heart would be broken, because we all know Sky and Ty are secretly dating IRL... _

_(The day after writing the first bit of that author's note, I read over it and went, "Omigosh, am I really that heartless? O.O.")_

_Baiii, my be-ay-yoo-tiful Rulers!_


	20. Chapter 20

_This is mostly just a depressing, sob-worthy filler chapter. It's needed, though, so shut up and deal with it. . _

**Games**

**Ch 20: I Hate You**

I stumble forward a few steps after being teleported back to the Purple building.

"_I meant what I said in the Challenge."_

"_The part where you s-said you couldn't 'say it and mean it?'"_

"_No. The part where I said I didn't care. The part where I said you meant nothing to me."_

The words won't stop replaying in my head. Every time I got a question wrong three times, the video would play for ten minutes, and the more the video played, the more muddled my brain was.

The more questions I got wrong.

The more times I had to watch the stupid video.

"_I have no feelings whatsoever for Sky. He means nothing to me."_

I let out a sob as I sink down to the floor and lean against the wall. I've lost my best friend, the love of my life. Ty doesn't care about me, not at all. I am nothing to him.

I am nothing.

I close my eyes and let out a shuddering breath. You're okay, Sky, you're okay. It's okay. It's no big deal. You have other friends. You'll be fine.

"_I have no feelings whatsoever for Sky. He means nothing to me."_

I bang my head against the wall as the words run through my head yet again. They won't stop. Those words, Ty's expression as he said them, I just can't get any of it out of my head.

"_I meant what I said in the Challenge. The part where I said I didn't care. The part where I said you meant nothing to me."_

My eyes fly open when a loud thud sounds on the other side of the room. "Wha-?"

Oh. It's Ty.

He's just been teleported in, and he's on his hands and knees on the other side of the room. He's breathing heavily and I think he's crying, too, and his eyes are closed as he sits up and hugs his knees, burying his head in them.

"T-Ty? A-Are you okay?" I ask tentatively, standing up and beginning to walk towards him.

"_Sky means nothing to me."_

I shake my head slightly to clear my thoughts as I rest a hand on his shoulder. "Ty, are you alright? Tell me what happened."

Ty jumps away from me, his eyes instantly shooting open. "N-No! Don't touch me, Sky!"

"Ty, I just-"

"No! Notch, just leave me a_lone_, okay? I don't _like _you_, _Sky!" he shouts. I reach toward him again, dying to comfort him, to wipe away his tears. "I _hate_ you!"

"_I have no feelings whatsoever for Sky. He means nothing to me."_

"_I hate you!"_

"_I meant what I said in the Challenge. The part where I said I didn't care. The part where I said you meant nothing to me."_

"_I hate you!"_

I squeeze my eyes shut and sniff quietly as I back away from Ty. He _hates_ me. He doesn't just _not care _about me, he _hates _me.

"I-I'm sorry," I sob, spinning and sprinting out of the Purple Building.

I want to go home.

**xXx**

"Should we try to get him to come out?"

"Maybe we should give him a few more seconds. Or minutes."

"Or hours."

"He wouldn't listen to us in this state, anyways. He'd just shove us out the door and go back to crying on his bed."

"Now, if we could get _Ty_ to go check on him-"

"But that's not going to happen."

"No, it's not."

I tune out the voices of my friends as I lean back against my bedroom wall. Yeah, they're just trying to help. But I don't want their help right now, because the only help they can give is a hug and an encouraging word or two.

And I need more than that to be okay again.

I let out a shaky breath and close my eyes. I've been sitting here, crying and staring at my bed, for hours now. At this rate, I'll have died of dehydration by morning.

Which wouldn't be all that bad, I suppose. Well, it would be bad if I was sent to the Nether, because ew – life with my father. But if I'm sent to the Aether after death, life'll be- I mean, death'll be good.

Actually, even the Nether is better than this place, where trauma is part of the daily routine and your best friends get into the habit of not caring about you and revealing that they hate you.

Shut up, Sky, you're gonna start hardcore sobbing again. Sniffling is good, sniffling is progress.

"_Sky means nothing to me."_

Just get used to it, Sky.

"_I hate you!"_

So what? You have other friends, Sky.

"_I have no feelings whatsoever for Sky. He means nothing to me."_

"_Sky means nothing to me."_

I let out a single sob. Okay, so what? So what if my best friend since childhood and crush since age fourteen hates me? It hardly matters in the long run. I'll move on eventually. I'll grow up, get married, have kids, and forget about Ty completely.

Oops, I thought his name.

And, the sob-fest continues.

I glance at my bed again, debating in my head the same thing I've been debating ever since I came in here. Should I take back my Skybrine powers? I was going to wait. I was going to be patient and nail the GameMaster at the Winner's Ceremony.

But I just want out of here so badly.

Of course, going back to the real world wouldn't change Ty's feelings toward me. Ty would remember all the good times we had together before the game show, yes, but that wouldn't change how he feels about me. He hates me, I am nothing to him. Nothing can really change that at this point.

So what would be the point of taking my chances with the GameMaster now instead of later when I have a strategy, a few advantages, and an actual plan during the latter?

I wouldn't have to sleep next door to Ty, for one.

When we get back to the real world, I will probably just collapse in a heap of tears again and cry for a few more years. Be useless for a few more years. Wait for the rest of my friends to admit they all hate me, too.

Wait, what was that, Brain?

The rest of my friends don't hate me, do they? I don't think they do, they don't act like it.

Then again, Ty didn't act like it, either.

Ugh, just shut up, Sky, your friends don't hate you.

Ha, wow. I've been talking to myself for the last few hours while bawling my eyes out and staring at a bed made of budder as I grieve the loss of my best friend.

I think that's an all-time low for me.

I need to fix this. I mean, I know I can't fix my relationship with Ty, but I can at least stop moping around. I'll continue playing on the game show, I'll go through with the original stop-the-GameMaster-during-the-Winner's-Ceremony plan, and I'll get us all out of here safely. That's always been my job in Team Crafted; I'm basically the leader. I'm the one who stays strong when everyone else is falling apart. I'm the one who makes everyone laugh when they feel like it's impossible to smile. I'm the one who never gives up, the one who grins when they'd rather frown and laughs when they'd rather cry. I'm the one who looks out for everyone else, keeps them safe.

What a crappy job I'm doing. I wouldn't be surprised if I got fired soon.

Maybe Seto could take my place. He's pretty good at everything I'm supposed to be good at – well, except for the joke part.

Actually, Seto can be pretty funny when he wants to be.

So, it's settled. Seto will be the new leader of Team Crafted when my friends kick me out-

Sky! Good Notch, focus on your not-moping-around plan and stop imagining depressing scenarios!

I breathe in slowly and then out even more slowly as I haul myself to my feet. No more sitting around and being useless. The whole reason Team Crafted volunteered for "Challenge Times Eight" was to save the world and avoid being bumps on a log, right? I rub the tears off my face with my sleeve and blink several times to stop any more from forming. No more crying. Crying has never gotten anyone anywhere, except this one guy into a mental asylum, but that was a _lot_ of crying. Like, a lot.

I force a smile onto my face and head towards my bedroom door.

"_Sky means nothing to me."_

But it doesn't matter.

"_I hate you!"_

But I don't care.


	21. Chapter 21

**Games**

**Ch 21: Fine**

I throw my door open and giggle at my friends' shocked expressions. "'Scuse me, guys, I'm gonna go budde-" I stop myself mid-sentence. "Erm, I'm gonna go hunting for the yellow stuff that my room is made of."

A few of them smile at my happy tone, but Seto is unconvinced. "Why? Don't you have enough? I mean, your room _is_ made entirely of it."

I shrug, scowling at him playfully. "You can _never_ have too much budd- too much of that stuff," I catch myself. "And I'll probably fish for squids, too, because if the squids are allowed to eat me, then I'm _definitely_ allowed to eat them."

Seto smiles. "Alright. Do you want one of us to come with you?"

"You can if you want, I don't really care. I just want to murder squids and bathe in budder- oops! Snap!"

"You meant the drug, right?" Seto says, a warning tone in his voice.

"Erm, uh, of course I did! Except I realized after saying what I did that that would actually be immoral and gross and so I will probably just bathe in that yellow stuff from my room instead."

Jason snorts, laughing at my attempt, and my smile widens because this is good, this is what I'm supposed to do. "Mkay, whatever. I'm gonna go play around in my bedroom. See ya, guys!" He waves to us, smiling in particular at me, before running up the staircase.

"Bye!" I shout with everyone else. Then I lower my voice slightly to say goodbye to the group. "Bye!"

"Bye, Sky," Ian and Quentin wave before Ian drags Quentin into their room.

"See ya!" Mitch and Jerome say cheerfully, heading towards the stairs.

Seto waits until the others are out of ear-shot. Then he asks quietly, "Are you okay?"

I nod, smiling and trying to make the smile reach my eyes because Seto is scarily good at reading people's emotions and I want him to believe I'm okay. "I'm fine," I assure him, matching his quiet tone.

He frowns. "If you say so." After a short pause, he adds, "If you want, I can try to talk to Ty-"

"No," I reply immediately, and my voice comes out strangled and slightly hoarse. Seto gives me the 'Fine, huh?' look, and I clear my throat before saying again, "No. It's alright, you can't change how he feels. It's probably better this way. At least he's no longer _pretending_ to care about me. At least I know the truth now."

"Sky-"

"No, really, it's fine. I think it actually hurt worse realizing that he didn't give a crap about me during all the fun times we had before the game show than it did to actually hear him say it during and after the Challenge. It'll hurt even more if you somehow convince him to apologize, because I'll know he doesn't actually mean it. So, really, I'm as fine as I'll ever be," I promise him, giving him a faint smile.

"Sky, I don't think-"

"I'm fine."

"Sky," Seto says with a strict tone. "It isn't good to just slap on a smile and walk around saying you're fine when you so clearly are not."

A tear slides down my cheek, and I roughly wipe it off before shaking my head and putting on another sad smile. "Well, it's either this or crying in my room for days on end," I point out, and my voice shakes a little more than I would have liked it to.

A quiet sob comes from behind me, and I whirl around to see Ty peeking out of his room.

His eyes are focused on me. They are filled with tears.

"S-Sorry, I... I'll leave," I say, my voice falling to a whisper as I look down at my feet. I speed-walk to the front door.

"C-Can I t-talk to you, Seto?" Ty asks.

I shut the door gently before I can hear Seto's reply, ignoring the little part of my brain that makes me want to go make sure Seto said yes.

Because even if Ty hates me, I still want the best for him. And if he needs someone to talk to about his mini-Challenge, or anything at all, I would still love to comfort him, to make him feel better.

Even if he yells at me afterward, once he's recovered enough to remember that he doesn't like me.

"_I hate you!"_

I'm sorry, but I don't care.

**xXx**

"**PLEASE REPORT TO THE SPAWN AREA."**

"Ugh," I moan, throwing back my head. Fine, then. I walk toward the Living Quarters, meaning to drop off the three squids I caught (with my bare hands, since I didn't bring a fishing rod. Ew, ew, ew, I have their germs on me!) and the random budder ingot I found on the ground.

"**You have three minutes,"** the GameMaster says. I mutter a curse and start running. **"That means you won't have nearly enough time to drop off your stuff at the Living Quarters, Skybrine. You'll have to leave it outside the Challenge Room. Oh, and the squids will probably gain consciousness and run away with your precious 'budder' while we're busy with the Challenge."**

"DANG IT!" I scream, stomping my foot before changing direction and heading towards the Spawn Area. I can hear faint laughter coming from the direction of the Living Quarters, so I'm guessing the others heard me. Well, good. I'm supposed to make them laugh.

I dash under the budder arch right before the GameMaster warns, **"You have five seconds."**

Obviously, the only acceptable reaction to this would be for me to stick out my tongue at the GameMaster.

Obviously, that's exactly what I do.

The GameMaster rolls his eyes but doesn't seem nearly as annoyed with me as he normally does. **"Well, Skybrine, I see you've gotten over your second Challenge and mini-challenge fairly quickly. Makes me wonder if you ever really cared about Ty at all."**

I want to scream at him for ever having even the smallest doubt that I don't love Ty with all my heart and soul.

But I don't do it.

"**You're just like your father," **the GameMaster hisses as I stare down at my feet. Ty doesn't stick up for me this time, he just lets the GameMaster continue on.** "You act like you care about someone and then you turn on them." **Tears gather in my eyes, and I fight to blink them back, because I am supposed to be the one who doesn't cry even when things are really hard, and I have failed at that too many times in this game already. **"You let them trust you and then you betray them."** I shake my head slightly, but it's not much, and I am honestly just too drained right now from holding back tears to fight back. **"You love them and then you break their heart."**

My head shoots up, and I stare at the GameMaster with wide eyes. What!? One: How does he know I'm in love with Ty? Two: What does he mean by 'break their heart?' I didn't break Ty's heart! If anything, he broke mine!

And how on _earth_ does that last sentence of his compare me to my father?

"I-I'm not- I'm not-" I try, but I can't manage to get any other words out. I am not like my father. I am not like my father. I am not-

"**You are just like your father."**

"N-No, I'm not!" I insist quietly. Am I? I'm not.

Am I?

"Sky, calm down, you're not your father," Jason says, walking over to me.

"I-I'm not? I'm n-not," I mumble, glancing down at my feet again.

"You are the complete opposite of your father," Seto promises me, moving to stand on my other side. "He is evil, He hardly even has feelings."

"You're our friend, Sky," Ian takes over. "You care about us. You makes an effort to cheer us up when we're feeling down. Would He do that? No, He would not. He'd probably just blow up a house or something."

I giggle. "T-Thanks."

"It's no problem," Jason says, placing a hand on my shoulder. "I don't remember anything before the start of the game show, but I still know enough to say you are one of the most caring people alive. You're nothing like Him."

The GameMaster huffs, rolling his eyes. **"You say that, but do you really believe it?"** He smirks and waves us toward the black door with the words "CHALLENGE NUMBER THREE" written above it in glowing yellow letters. **"It is time for your third Challenge. And in this Challenge, I will prove to you all that Sky is a direct copy of his father – of Herobrine."**

* * *

><p><em>Mm, well, we got a <em>bit _of drama in this chapter... Next one will be completely boss, though. You thought _Ty_ ignoring him was bad? Just you wait!_


	22. Chapter 22

_Merry Christmas Eve, my be-ay-yoo-tiful Rulers! I hope all of you have a brilliant Christmas tomorrow. :)_

_En-juh-hoy!_

**Games**

**Ch 22: Like Father, Like Son**

I gulp and step toward the door with Jason and Seto by my side. "So, what exactly are we doing in this Challenge?" Jason asks.

"**We're fighting."**

"_We_'re fighting?" Jason asks, sounding alarmed. "Like, us against you?"

The GameMaster chuckles. **"Of course not! You weaklings wouldn't stand a chance against me. You'll be fighting **_**each other**_**."**

"Nah, I'm not really in the mood," I drawl, trying to return to my normal-ish, jokey self.

The GameMaster is not amused. You might even say he is displeased. #DispleasedGameMaster.

Okay, no. That is the worst hashtag I have ever hashtagged in my entire hashtagging life.

"**Skybrine, I actually have a special surprise for you."**

I raise an eyebrow. "Oh, do you, now?"

"**Indeed. Let's enter the Challenge Room, and I'll show you what it is."**

I hesitantly follow him into the Challenge Room, and the rest of the Team follows me. Through the black Challenge door is a stadium that looks like that of an ice hockey game. The stands are separated from the middle area with glass walls, and there's a red half-door that lets you move between the stands and the middle area.

The middle area is nothing like an ice hockey game, though.

There is soul sand coating the floor of the middle area, and there are small netherrack structures sticking out at some places. The ceiling is non-existent. The ceiling is just a dark red mist that I don't want to touch.

"Oh, this looks... nice," I comment sarcastically, glancing at the arrangement. Beautiful. Is this where we're going to kill each other? I'd always imagined I would die in the middle of a budder castle either of natural causes or at the hand of my father.

MUAHAHA, BUT HE WOULD NEVER HAVE GOTTEN PAST MY FIVE BILLION BUDDER GOLEM GUARDS! If I had them, that is. And if I even had a budder castle to begin with.

"**Skybrine, why don't you go into the arena first?"**

"I'd rather not."

"**I don't care what you'd rather do, get in there."**

"Is this my 'surprise?'"

"**Maybe."**

"Well, it sucks," I announce bluntly as I hop over the red half-door/gate/whatever and into the arena. "I'm not fighting any of my friends."

"**Oh, that's alright, you can just fight Ty."**

"I- What!? That's not what I meant," I argue, frustrated. The GameMaster only shrugs. "No way, I am _not_ fighting Ty."

"**Fine, fine, we'll get someone else. Just go in there and wait, alright?"**

I ignore his suspicious tone and walk out into the middle of the arena, glancing around at the netherrack structures. The souls in the sand grab at my ankles, but I'm used to it from living in the Nether for most of my childhood, and it doesn't slow me down much.

For a moment I allow myself to remember the day when I met Ty. I was incredibly young – like, five or something – and I had run into him while trying to avoid a murdering session with my father.

"_Who are you? Why do you have a tail? How come I don't have a tail? Wait, do I have a tail?"_ my five-year-old self had asked, turning around to attempt to check if I had a tail. I had not found one, sadly.

"_I-I'm Ty, a-and I'm an Enderdragon hybrid. W-Why are your e-eyes glowing?" _Ty had asked.

"_Because I'm the son of that guy over there," _I had replied, pointing to my father, who had been flying above the trees in the distance, _"the one who's raging and throwing lightning at stuff. I'm Skybrine- er, I'm Sky." _I could be who I wanted to be in the OverWorld.

"_Why is your dad all angry?"_

"_I don't know. I tried to ask my mommy why he was always mad, when she was still alive, and she told me it was all in his genes."_

"_His jeans? What's wrong with his jeans?"_

"_I don't know, maybe he got a hole in them or something and his mommy wouldn't buy him any new ones."_

I snap out of the memory with a dazed smile on my face. I don't think I'll ever forget that day, because it was one of the best in my life. After talking with Ty for a while longer, though, I had had to return to my father before he set fire to the entire dimension.

It was alright, though. I came back to visit Ty whenever I could.

"**BEGIN!"** the GameMaster yells, and I whirl around, surprised by the sudden noise.

I really don't want to fight any of my friends. This is not good, this is not cool, this is-

Not happening?

Who am I fighting? There's no one here! I can see most of Team Crafted up in the stands, but I can't see the GameMaster or the person I'm supposed to fight-

"Hello, Skybrine." His voice carries across the room to me, and I freeze in place. "I haven't seen you since the day you left me for your worthless OverWorld friends. How are you?"

"I'd be better if you wouldn't call my best friends worthless," I growl, spinning around to face Him. He's standing with His notorious diamond pickaxe raised, His eyes lighting up the blocks immediately in front of Him.

Herobrine.

"Hey, I'm just calling them what they are," He shrugs, casually walking towards me. I narrow my eyes and growl at Him, and he pauses, steps back a bit. "Woah, there, son. Calm down a little, there's no need to get violent."

"The GameMaster _did_ put us in here to fight," I remind Him, beginning to move closer to Him.

"Well, if we're gonna fight, _I'm_ gonna win," my father says, raising His pick a little. "You know this. I'm just trying to buy you some time."

"You won't win. I've beaten you before, I can beat you again."

"You had your friends backing you up that time. This time, you don't." He stops for a second, studying my face. "And anyways, I just wanna know what my son's been up to lately! Can't a dad be involved in his child's life?"

"No, not when the dad is you and the son is me," I grumble quietly, walking toward Him more quickly now. He takes another step back, but He doesn't look the least bit scared.

"Come on, now. How's that friend of yours, the one you had a crush on? Tyler, was it?"

"Ty," I hiss in correction, still moving towards Him. He seems to shake a little as He takes a few more backward steps, but He still isn't showing any facial signs of fear. Good Notch, dude, a teensy little terrified expression would be really comforting to me right now.

An enchanted budder sword suddenly spawns right next to me, and I snatch it up before the souls can snatch it down. "This is for everything," I snarl, leaping forward and attacking my father.

He cries out as my sword grazes His arm, but He manages to move over enough to avoid any big wounds. Pfft, my father crying out in pain? This is something I haven't seen before. He always hides His pain so well if He ever gets hurt. Oh, and it's next to impossible to hurt Him.

I lunge toward Him, stabbing my sword in the direction of His heart, but He jumps out of the way again just in time. Oh, that's weird. He just barely made it; the souls grabbing at his ankles held him back a little. My father would never be held back by soul sand – after all, he lives in the Nether. He's used to it, just like I am. I don't give myself time to think much about it, though, as I move forward for the next strike.

"SKY!" my friends shout. I whip around to see them pounding on the glass wall that separates me from them. They look somewhere between concerned and furious. Well, yeah, I'd be concerned and furious, too, if my friend's murderous father came back to fight him when he didn't even have his powers anymore. Stupid GameMaster, making me give up my stupid powers. "SKY, STOP!"

Stop?

Heck, no! I think I might actually be winning!

I roll my eyes again and turn back to the fight, jabbing my sword towards Herobrine. He jumps backward and starts walking away from me while still facing my direction. "Come on, is that all you've got? I thought I taught you better than that," He taunts me, but He puts His hands up like He's trying to beg for mercy. What is He playing at?

"I can do worse than this," I growl defensively, taking one large step forward and pushing my father up against the three-block high netherrack structure behind him. He quivers under my touch, and I press my budder blade up against His neck. He always hated budder. "Ironic, right?" I ask, grinning cruelly.

Cruelly?

I don't grin cruelly.

I'm not my father.

I let up slightly, not pressing as hard onto His neck as I probably should to keep Him pinned. Can I really kill my own father? I mean, sure, He's an evil demon – literally – but do I really have the heart to kill Him?

I'd be disappointed if I did.

Then again... He did try to murder me. And my friends. And He also tried to make me like Him-

My mind seems to freeze for a second as a nearly silent sniffle is heard.

My father does not sniffle.

He does not sob, He does not cry, He does not sniffle.

I glance down at His face. He doesn't look like He's sad, scared, hurt.

But there's that sniffle again.

My father does not step back from a fight.

My father does not get hurt.

My father does not show pain.

My father is not held back by soul sand.

My father does not sniffle.

This is not my father.

I jump away from the person who looks and talks like Herobrine, and then I yelp a little as my entire world flashes gray. What's going on, what's happening?

My visions flashes again, and this time it makes the person I used to think was Herobrine look like- like Ty. Then He returns to normal.

I shake my head and rub my eyes furiously. When I open them again, my vision is completely normal.

And Ty is standing in front of me, his arm bleeding profusely, a thin line of blood on his neck.

"Ty! T-Ty, I'm so sorry, I-"

He just shakes his head as salty tears leave tracks on his cheeks. The rest of Team Crafted suddenly stumbles through the gate and into the arena; the GameMaster must have put up some kind of force field around the gate so they couldn't get through before. "Ty! Are you okay!?" they shout, running over to him.

Ty doesn't speak. He just nods slowly, not taking his eyes off mine.

Seto suddenly spins around to face me instead of Ty. "What is _wrong_ with you, Sky!? You were _this_ close to killing him!"

"Why would you _do_ that!?" Jason yells, close to tears. "I thought you said you weren't going to fight any of your friends!"

"You almost freaking murdered him!" Ian shouts, glaring at me.

"I- I-"

"The GameMaster was right," Jason mumbles. "You're just like your father."

* * *

><p><em>*gasp* ERMERGERSH, THE DRAMA! *dies*<em>

_No, seriously, though, this chappie is just... XD_

_Took me five entire minutes to stop fangirling over my own chapter._

_I need help. :/_


	23. Chapter 23

_*sigh*And we _still_ haven't reached the climax yet. Man, this is fun..._

**Games**

**Ch 23: Hallucination Thingies, Huh?**

I'm sitting in the middle of the netherrack arena. The Team left a few minutes ago after shouting a few more insults and ushering Ty to the exit.

Did they not see Herobrine? Did they not see what I saw? Maybe I'm going crazy.

"**Skybrine, I need you to leave now so I can prepare this room for Challenge Four."**

I tiredly lift my head to look at the GameMaster where he sits on top of one of the three-block-tall netherrack structures. "Please don't call me Skybrine. My name is Sky. I am Sky."

The GameMaster shrugs, swinging his legs. **"Sorry, but now I've got even more reason to call you Skybrine, so I won't stop any time soon. I must apologize, though, for screwing up your vision and causing the hallucinations."**

"The halluci- what!?"

"**Yes, that was me. I used one of my powers to change some of what you saw and heard. I couldn't change how Ty moved, what he did with his arms, hands, or legs, but I could make it seem like you were facing off with Herobrine. And I did, so..."**

"You realize you just ruined all of my standing friendships?"

"**It's okay, you still have all your sitting friendships!"** the GameMaster jokes badly, making a 'bah-dum, tss!' sound.

I groan and bury my face in my hands. I'm such an idiot! Now the entire Team hates me, they think I'm just like my crappy psychopath of a dad.

You know, they're sort of right. I mean, that feeling I had right before I was about to kill who I thought was Herobrine...

I don't know.

I wish I'd never convinced the Team to sign up for the game show. I should have known the GameMaster would be too much for me- for us. It was a stupid idea. Ty was right, I have really stupid ideas sometimes. Okay, fine, all the time.

Hey, wait, I just realized something!

In the Game Room, right before the actual game show started, I told Ty that I could see the future and that everything would be alright (I was obviously wrong, but shut up and let me continue). Earlier today, I predicted that I'd lose all my friends and get kicked out of Team Crafted, and I was right!

I've become a psychic!

Shh, it's the one highlight of my day, let me cherish it.

"**Skybrine? You gonna leave, or what?"**

"Could I just stay for... for a few more minutes? I just need to- to think, and I won't be able to knowing all my friends are in the rooms next door."

"**... Sure. I guess. I still hate you, though."**

"Don't worry, I won't forget."

There's silence for a bit while the GameMaster flies around and does little poofy things that make the stands around the arena disappear and be replaced by beige flooring. Then he suddenly speaks up again. **"Uh, this might not work, since they were pretty mad, and... Well, I don't exactly **_**want**_** your friends to forgive you, because when your life is hard, mine is fun, but... You could, um, you could try to explain to them what I did. You could tell them about the hallucinations."**

I look up at him with a surprised expression. He's right, I could at least _try_ to explain... "T-Thank you," I say quietly.

"**Woah, woah, don't you dare say thank you. We are mortal enemies, got that? Okay, we're technically immortal enemies, but still."**

I roll my eyes and stand up, heading towards the Challenge door. "Right. Well, bye."

"**See ya later."**

"I hope not."

"**That's the spirit!"**

I roll my eyes again as I fling open the door and walk under the budder arch. How am I going to explain this to my friends? 'Oh, sorry, guys, the GameMaster altered my vision so Ty looked like my demonic father.' Yeah, I'm sure they'll believe that.

Ironically, if the mini-challenge had never happened, if Ty and I hadn't been enemies before Challenge Three began, _Ty_ would have believed me. Even though I'm the one who attacked him, he _still_ would have stood up for me.

He won't do that now.

I can't even bring myself to be angry as I pass the spot where I dropped my budder and captured squids earlier and find it empty. Almost empty. All that is left are the ropes I used to tie the squids up.

Right now I'm just sad. I feel hopeless. I lost all of my friends, and let's face the reality, here: I probably will not get them back. I'm alone.

I silently open the door to the Living Quarters, praying that no one is in the front hallway. Thankfully, no one is, and I walk carefully inside. "H-Hello?" I call out timidly. "Guys?"

"We don't want to talk to you, Sky!" someone shouts.

I sigh. "Please let me try to explain!"

"Oh, yes, please! We would love to listen to you explain how you were going to chop Ty's head off. Or were you going to torture him a bit before you killed him, just for the fun of it? Herobrine would be proud."

I flinch away from their tone and words. Geez. "Guys, seriously! I have a legit explanation for why I did what I did!"

Seto flings open Ty's bedroom door. "Fine, come give it to us." I walk towards him. "But don't come _anywhere_ near Ty, and don't try anything funny on us."

I huff and shut the door lightly behind me as I enter the room to be met by glares from everyone but Ty, who simply refuses to look at me. "It was the GameMaster," I blurt, temporarily unable to elaborate.

"Oh, really? And I assume the GameMaster just happened to have a SkyDoesMinecraft suit?" Mitch asks sourly, resting his chin in his hand as he sits on the edge of Ty's bed.

"I- no. The GameMaster gave me hallucination thingies, like- uh- he sort of changed my vision so Ty would look like my dad."

"Hallucination thingies, huh?"

I groan. "Guys, you have to believe me. For the majority of that fight, I was completely convinced I was fighting Herobrine. It was only near the end that I realized something wasn't right, and then the hallucinations wore off and I could see properly again."

"Of course," Jason says sarcastically, rolling his eyes. "Because us yelling 'Stop!' at the top of our lungs wasn't enough to alert you that something was off."

I bite my lip. "I'm sorry! I thought- I thought that- okay, I don't know what I thought, but I certainly didn't think I was about to kill Ty!"

"Sure you didn't."

I blow out a breath, stepping toward Seto. "Come on, dude, you believe me, right? You're a sorcerer. The GameMaster would have enough power to alter my sight, wouldn't he?"

Seto steps back when I step forward, and I sigh. "Maybe. Possibly. But he wouldn't do that. When you were fighting out there, growling threats, that was all you."

Ian snorts. "You literally _hissed_ Ty's name once." His voice switches to a sarcastic tone as he adds, "Yeah, you were _obviously_ fighting _Herobrine_."

I furrow my eyebrows. I did, didn't I? It must have looked really bad to them- they couldn't hear what Herobrine was saying to me. "I-I- I wasn't- It isn't- I was responding to Herobrine!"

"Uh huh. And why'd it take you so long to think of that reply?" Jerome asks.

"I was surprised! Honestly, guys! You know I would never hurt any of you!"

"No. No, we don't," Quentin says, glaring at me.

I let out a frustrated breath as I reach out toward Ty, walking closer to his bed. "Ty-"

Ty squeezes his eyes shut and lets out a barely audible squeak, and Seto immediately starts to push me back towards the door. "No, you're not going to hurt him anymore, Skybrine!"

S-Skybrine?

I don't move, instead only staring at Seto in shock. Skybrine. He called me Skybrine.

I wonder if Ty still considers Sky and Skybrine two different people like he did in the second Challenge.

I don't think he does.

I let out a shaky breath and take a step back. "O-Okay. Okay, I'm, I'm not going to hurt him. I'm going now."

"You'd better," Jason growls. "We don't want to see you ever again."

"Tough luck," I reply, amazed at how firm my voice came out this time. "I live right next to Ty and across from the Ssunkipz."

Ian and Quentin glare at me again. "We'll move upstairs, share rooms with the others."

"S-Seriously?"

"Seriously."

"F-Fine, then."

"Goodbye."

I nod slowly, choking out a quiet "Goodbye," as I back out the door and move to my own bedroom.

Alone.

And feeling like Skybrine.


	24. Chapter 24

_Ooh, look, a short, crappy chapter! :D I think the next one's better._

_ALSO ALSO ALSO GUYS LOOK_

_WE HAVE A NEW COVER_

_MADE SPECIALLY BY FanfictionRepublic ON WATTPAD._

_I AM HAPPY_

_NOTCH, IT IS SO FREAKING COOL_

_IT LOOKS SO MUCH MORE EXCITING THAN THE OLD COVER_

**Games**

**Ch 24: Overrated, Outdated, Something-Something, Constipated**

"**First off: I'm very sorry for the most recent Challenge."** For a second, my hopes rise. Is he gonna confess to the others what he did?** "I forgot to give an advantage to the winner of the previous mini-challenge." **Oh.** "Then again, you all left after Sky and Ty's part of the Challenge, so I couldn't really give anything to the winner, which was Seto.**

"**Oh, and I'd like to announce the winners of Challenge Two and Three. Challenge Two's winners were Mitch and Jerome again, because your reactions were the funniest and Seto was disqualified for being heartless. And the winner of Challenge Three is Skybrine! But only because Ty didn't even try and the rest of you left before you could do your Challenges."**

I didn't even _want_ to win that Challenge. The others probably hate me even more now. Ugh, my life.

I roll off my bed and groan as I hit the floor. Dang it. Stupid gravity. Sighing, I lift myself off the floor and lean against the wall. I'm in the same position I was in after Ty told me he hated me.

But I'm not crying this time. I've vowed not to cry any more for the rest of the game show. I will probably fail and end up bawling at one point or another, but for now, I am tear-less. Is that a word? It's a word now.

I don't need friends anyway. Friends are overrated, outdated, something-something, constipated. Dang it.

I think I did that wrong.

Oh well, it's not like anyone is lurking around in my thoughts, laughing at all my thought-failures.

Unless- no. No, my father couldn't be doing that. He's only able to communicate with me telepathically when he's within one hundred blocks of me. And he's not.

Is he?

No, that doesn't even make sense, Sky, shut up. There aren't any signs of telepathic communication, therefore there isn't any. You're just jumping to conclusions without even finding the first clue.

What?

I don't even know right now, I need sleep. And friends. And sanity would be nice, too.

"**Now that the announcements are over with, please report to the Purple Building for your third mini-challenge."**

"I HATE YOU!" I scream at the top of my lungs.

"**THAT'S PERFECTLY ACCEPTABLE, I HATE YOU, TOO."**

I grumble a few curses as I stumble out of my room, wishing I could do horrible things to the GameMaster. The Team glares at me as they walk down the stairs. Yes, Ian, Quentin, and Ty actually moved upstairs last night. They seriously did it.

It made me feel so great about myself. (Note the intense, depressing sarcasm.)

I send the others an apologetic glance, which they ignore, and then I give up and just walk out the door and toward the Purple Building. What else could the GameMaster possibly do to me? He's emotionally traumatized me (several times), he's gotten the love of my life to despise me, he's gotten me to attack and almost _kill_ the love of my life, and in doing so, he has also made all my friends hate me.

What a nice recap of events.

But seriously, what else could he do?

"**Welcome, Skybrine. Where are your friends?"**

"My friends? Oh, I don't have any of those. But Team Crafted is currently walking towards this building while avoiding me at all costs, so there's that."

"**That's nice."**

"Mmhmm."

The Team enters the Purple Building and immediately moves to the area that is farthest away from me. "So, what's this challenge about?" Mitch asks.

"**This mini-challenge is actually beneficial to you."**

"What? How?" I ask curiously. The others glare at me as if speaking is a crime now. Oh, but only when I do it, obviously.

The GameMaster grins giddily after observing my ex-friends' hatred for me. **"You have visitors."**

"Visitors?" Ty asks, glancing at me nervously as if he knows something I don't.

As if he's worried about me.

LOLOLOL. I _wish_.

"**Yes, visitors from the world outside the game show. There is one here for each of you. All you have to do to complete your mini-challenge is enjoy a nice chat with your friend/family member."**

Ty looks even more worried now. But why?

"Wait, then how do we win?" Jerome asks, confused.

"**There is no winner in this mini-challenge. I am doing you a favor by allowing you to have contact with a friend or family member of yours from the outside world; why should I reward you for accepting it?"**

"Okay, that makes sense."

"**Yes. Now, the two players who are forced to participate in this round are Jerome and Skybrine."**

"Haven't I already gone twice?" I ask, staring up at the GameMaster, who is standing in the back of the room.

"**Yes."**

"Isn't that the maximum amount of times someone can be forced to participate in a mini-challenge?"

"**Stop sounding smart, it doesn't fit your personality,"** the GameMaster commands. Most of the Team snickers. **"And I figured this didn't count as a real mini-challenge since you're getting a visitor instead of an actual challenge, so I just included you in the drawing anyways."**

"Got it. Sure. Whatever. Okay."

"**It's not like you can do anything about it."**

I sigh. "Exactly."

"**So, who wants to participate in this mini-challenge?"**

I glance over at the Team, and they all raise their hands – all except for Ty. Jason looks at him curiously, and he sighs and raises his hand, glancing at me again. He blushes and immediately looks away when he realizes I'm already looking at him.

Oops.

Eh, whatever. I don't have to worry about embarrassing myself anymore since everyone already hates me.

"**All of you! Wow, this group is really participant in everything! Except for the third Challenge. Seriously, you all just up and left. You aren't allowed to do that."**

"Fight me," Jason growls.

The GameMaster raises an eyebrow. **"Well, then. Anyways, it doesn't matter; I made an exception for you guys since your friend was almost killed by your other friend."**

"He's not our friend anymore," Ian informs him, glaring at me.

"**So I've heard. That's good, you really shouldn't be associating with the son of Herobrine. He probably would have turned on you eventually, anyways."**

"Um, hello!? I'm right here!" I shout, waving my arms.

They ignore me. "Yeah, we know. There's no doubt in my mind that he was planning to kill us all at some point," Jason shrugs. Geez. All this over me accidentally almost killing Ty? Calm yourselves, he's not a kid! He doesn't need you guys protecting him!

Okay, that's kind of hypocritical of me. If Jason or one of the others were to so much as bruise Ty, I would cut off their hand and use it to dig out their eyeballs. Yeah. Whoops, my Skybrine is showing. My bad.

"**It's a good thing he revealed his true intentions before things got **_**really**_** bad,"** the GameMaster says, nodding at the others. I glare at him. Seriously!?

"Definitely. I can't believe we were ever friends with him in the first place," Jerome mutters. Fluffy, why!?

"Yeah, befriending him was a mistake. We should have known better," Mitch shrugs.

"I mean, honestly! He's Herobrine's _son_!" Quentin exclaims.

"But that doesn't mean I'm an exact replica of Him!" I argue desperately, throwing my hands up.

"**Well, Ty, aren't you glad your friends stopped Skybrine before he could kill you? Aren't you glad you aren't his friend anymore?"**

Ty freezes, his eyes widening as he looks up at the GameMaster. "U-Uh, w-well, actually, S-Sky stopped before the rest of the Team g-got d-down there. H-He jumped away from me at the last second."

Hope surges in my chest. Does this mean Ty _doesn't_ hate me? Or at least doesn't blame me for the Challenge incident?

"**But you're still elated that you're no longer friends, correct?" **the GameMaster asks, and I sense a threat in his voice as he narrows his eyes at Ty. As Ty swallows hard, the GameMaster points in my direction, glaring at Ty. The rest of the Team doesn't seem to notice, seeing as they're too busy glaring at me.

Ty bites his lip and glances over at me. "U-Uh, y-yeah! D-D-Definitely. Of c-course."

Yeah. Definitely. Of course.

Of course.

"Good," the GameMaster says, seeming pleased. "Prepare for your mini-challenges."


	25. Chapter 25

_**WARNING:** There's a bit of pain in this chappie, just a slight warning. That's all, carry on reading. :)_

**Games**

**Ch 25: Hello, Son**

_PIGGLEBIGGLEBOOMZAPBANGTSSSS!_

I glance around the room I'm in. There are black walls, a black ceiling, and a black, tiled floor. There are two blood red chairs in the middle of the room, and I cautiously sit down in one. Who would come to visit me? I don't really know anyone outside of Team Crafted, you know, since everyone's pretty much terrified of me. Maybe Dawn came-

"Hello, Son."

I jump out of my chair and spin to face Him.

"Oh. H-Hi, Dad."

"How are you?"

"I have no friends, I'm in love with someone who hates me, and the GameMaster despises me with a deep and burning passion."

"Oh."

"Is it okay if I blame it all on you?"

"Go ahead. I won't be offended."

For a moment, I consider falling into His arms and letting Him actually comfort me like a father should. But I know He won't actually do that. He'll just push me away and scold me for being vulnerable. He'll tell me I'm not fit to rule the Nether. He'll tell me I should train more, so maybe then I'd be ready.

"Uh... So. Why exactly are you here?" I ask, settling back down in my chair and watching as He walks over to His.

"Will invited me."

"Will? Who's Will?"

"You know, William."

"..."

"The guy that you and your friends – ex-friends? – call the GameMaster."

"Wha- The GameMaster's first name is _Will_!? Wait, you're on a first name basis with the _GameMaster!?"_

"Yeah. We aren't really too fond of each other at the moment, though. I only came for you."

"You came for me."

"Yes."

"I don't believe that," I say, leaning forward on my seat and narrowing my eyes at Him. "What do you really want?"

"I did come here for you, Skybrine."

"Okay, first of all: My name is Sky now. Not Skybrine. And second: We both know that what you just said was a lie."

"Only a partial lie, though," my father replies. "I came here for you, but not... _for_ you. I'm your mini-challenge."

"Yeah, I get that. But it's not a real challenge, I'm just talking with a family member. Right?" I ask. A scary smile creeps onto His face. "Right?" I ask slowly.

"Not quite," Herobrine says, shrugging his shoulders as he gets up off his chair and walks towards me at the speed of a freaking turtle. Like, seriously, man, could you go any slower? "You see, Skybrine, I've been searching for you ever since you and your friends killed me three years ago. Since I'm nearly immortal, I get ten respawns before my permanent death.

"And you took my _ninth_, Skybrine. Ever since then, I've sent out ghasts, blazes, zombies, mobs of all shapes and kinds to hunt you down- and they all came back with no idea as to where you were." He flicks my sunglasses. "With these on, your eyes are covered up, and you look like a normal human, not that there are many of those left," He chuckles. "And I couldn't find you. I couldn't repay you for what you did to me."

I gulp as He reaches forward and takes one of my curly brown strands of hair between His fingers. He twirls it a bit, staring at it intently. "But now William has provided me with this wonderful opportunity."

"D-Dad?" I squeak, pressing back as far as I can into my chair.

"You hurt me. Now I get to hurt you," Herobrine snarls, tugging fiercely on my hair.

I yelp at the slight pain. "B-But I don't have my p-powers right now! I'm not immortal l-like you are!"

"You think I care?" my father sneers, pulling off my sunglasses and staring straight into my eyes. "Oh, what horrendously colored eyes you have. I always figured they'd be some stupid color."

"W-What color are they?" I ask, despite the situation. What? I want to know!

"Gold."

I growl at Him, then quickly clap my hand over my mouth. It is not a good idea to growl at my father, not when He is standing over you at a time when you are powerless and weaponless – basically helpless.

"Did you just _growl_ at me, son?" Herobrine hisses, leaning even closer to me.

I swallow hard, and then His eyes are flaring with a glow brighter than anything I've ever seen, and I'm flying out of the chair and into the wall. I groan as I slide down the wall, and my murderous father stalks closer to me. "That was a mistake, Skybrine," He says in a scarily quiet voice. "You've made so, so many mistakes." I gulp as He puts His hand against my neck and pins me to the wall like that. "But maybe you can make up for them."

"H-How?" I choke out, staring straight into His bright eyes.

"By coming back to the Nether with me," He smirks. "I can get you out of this twisted game show and away from your not-friends, I can spare your life, but you have to come home with me and continue your training as prince of the Nether."

"Neve-" I begin, but I cut myself off. Would it really be so bad? He could get me out of this horrible game show – I wouldn't have to worry about man-eating squids ever again. And it's not like my friends would miss me in the slightest – they're already convinced that I'm just like my father, so why _shouldn't_ I go with Him? "Wh-What exactly would the training be like?" I ask hesitantly.

He grins after realizing that I'm actually considering going with Him. "It'd be just like it was before you left," He replies, loosening His grip on my neck. "You'd be trained to use your powers properly, trained in the fine art of murder, trained to-"

"Murder?" I whisper. Of course, I knew that was part of the training. It was when I left, so why would it be any different now? "Could we maybe cut that bit out?"

"No," my father answers immediately. "You need to know these things if you ever want to take my place."

"But I _don't_ want to take your place, that's the thing!" I say, growing frustrated with life in general.

"Then the training will be pointless," Herobrine shrugs, glaring at me. "Actually, if you can't take my place when you come of age, then not only is your training pointless, but so is your _life."_

I cry out as He slaps my cheek forcefully. He frowns at me in disgust, because I guess a small little yelp was a bit less than he was hoping for. Or possibly more. Maybe he's disgusted at me for not being strong enough. I'm disgusted at _myself_ for not being strong enough.

Lightning strikes at three different places in the room, and my father's eyes flare. "You know what? I'll make a deal with you. We'll cut out the murder part of your training-" I grin, because that I can deal with, but then He continues. "But you have to kill your not-friends to make up for it. They're not your friends anymore, anyways, so why would you even care if they died?"

I shake my head as quickly as I can. "N-No. I'm not going to _murder_ my friends."

"But they _aren't _your friends," my sad excuse for a father sneers. "You may still be theirs, but they are not yours. They don't care about you. They believe you are worthless, annoying, expendable. They will have no trouble killing _you_ in one of the upcoming Challenges."

"No! No, no, no! They don't think that about me, and they wouldn't hurt me! They d-don't think I'm worthless, they just think I'm evil and insane and a murderer." I pause. "And doing what you've suggested would only confirm that, they would hate me even more than they already do! I will _not_ hurt them!"

"See? They _hate_ you, you said so yourself. Even if it isn't for the reasons I listed – and trust me, it is, they just don't show it – they hate you. You have no valid reason to avoid killing them," Herobrine says, taking on a caring tone as he adds, "You have to do what's best for you, son."

"This isn't best for me though!" I argue. "I care about them!"

My father growls and then a shock wave of pain flies through my body. There it is, the power that I always try to avoid using and the power that He uses every chance He gets. He can run pain through my body by simply touching me; if I had my powers, I could do it to Him, too. I wouldn't, though. I'm too nice for that, which He hates. I'm sure He would rather I hurt Him than spare Him (if I could ever manage to get the upper hand, that is), because it would mean that I was beginning to actually act like Him.

I scream and my body goes limp as the pain paralyzes me momentarily. "S-Stop! P-Please stop! F-Father!"

"For you, son, I will lower the requirements," He hisses. "You won't have to kill them; you'll only have to injure them badly. I want them dying on the floor; but you do not have to finish the job. You don't have to kill them."

"I-I w-won't... I c-can't h-hurt them," I sob, falling to my knees as He releases His hand from my neck.

"You are useless!" my father bellows, causing lightning to strike not two blocks away on either side of me. I flinch back in fear as tears soak my face. "How hard would it be to plant a knife in their chests!? It would take you no time at all, Skybrine!"

"I-I can't, I-I'm s-sorry!"

"You worthless failure!" Herobrine roars. "What is the point of breaking the laws of the universe to let the god of the Nether have a son if that son turns out to be a completely, hopelessly pathetic failure!?"

"I-I'm sorry!"

"I will _make_ _you_ kill them," He whispers threateningly, pinning me to the wall again, this time by my arms. "I will hurt you until you no longer have a choice."

* * *

><p><em>:D<em>


	26. Chapter 26

_Omg guys more fanart I just can't rn why are you guys so awesome UGH_

_Tazzmaniondevil made it (nicoxlilian4ever on deviantart), and I'll try to put it on the side for all you wattpad people._

_**WARNING:** A tad bit of pain. Not much really. There's hardly any at all._

**Games**

**Ch 26: Of Course**

I collapse on the floor of the Purple Building, leaning against the wall and bawling my eyes out. But you know what? I think I deserve to cry after what I just went through, so I'm not even gonna scold myself for not staying strong for the Team. The Team doesn't need me to stay strong for them, anyway. They don't _want_ me to. They want me to break down and be in pain. They want me to die a slow and painful death.

That's what my father told me.

Over and over and over.

And over.

I guess by now I sort of have to believe it. It'd be impossible to believe otherwise at this point, especially since most of the Team walked right by my crying, shuddering form on the way to the Living Quarters without even sparing me a second glance. A few of them even shot me disgusted looks as they passed by.

Ty is the only one who hasn't been teleported back to the Purple Building yet, and I'm still sitting here, crying pointlessly. This probably makes it look like I'm hoping he'll see me and pity me, but honestly I'm scared to death that he'll actually make me hurt even more. He has every right to, after all. I've done so much to hurt him.

I want to hide away in my part of the Living Quarters so, so badly. I want to get away from here so I don't have to watch Ty either walk past me emotionally like the others did or do worse. But I can't; right now, I just can't. The GameMaster stopped my father before he could kill me, and he healed my physical damage, but I'm a long way from being okay. Right now I'm too emotionally hurt to even think properly, let alone get up and walk in a straight line. I would never make it back to the Living Quarters, despite the fact that it's just next door. So instead of moving I just sit here and hug my knees while crying into them and rocking back and forth, flinching every time I so much as think about my horrendous father.

I didn't agree.

I didn't agree to His deal.

"Woah," someone whispers, and I glance up through my tear-soaked eyelashes to see Ty popping into the room and stumbling forward a few steps to keep his balance. He looks unbearably cute, but I'm not allowed to think that anymore (not that I was really allowed to before) because he hates me now. They all hate me now.

So I bury my head in my knees again and just breathe in and out. I need to focus. I need to be able to walk well enough to get to my room so I can collapse on my bed and keep crying. I need to calm myself just a little. No one's going to comfort me, I've known this ever since I first got teleported back in here, but now I know I have to do it myself. I can't just sit here crying forever.

"Was i-it your dad?"

My head shoots up and I nearly bonk heads with Ty, who is crouching down next to me and placing his hand on my knee. "I-I'm sorry," I mumble, and it's nearly unintelligible through the tears.

"It's okay. Was your visitor your father?" he asks again. Why does he care? He's probably wanting to go back to the others and either celebrate my pain or convince them further that I'm just like my crap-tastic daddy.

I nod feebly, waiting for him to laugh and run over to the Living Quarters. I wouldn't blame him for it. He has every right to hate me and wish me pain.

"I don't know what he said about and to you," Ty whispers, leaning toward me. "But I know it wasn't true." Suddenly Ty is encasing me in a warm hug, and I'm just accepting it, hugging him back tightly and sobbing into his shirt, and I don't want this to end, and I don't know if I can handle it ending, but I know it has to eventually and so I surprisingly do not fall over dead when he pulls away from me. "I'm so sorr-" he begins before a voice interrupts him.

"**What was that, Ty?"**

Ty jumps to his feet, no longer making eye contact with me. "I- Nothing. It was nothing."

"**It didn't look like nothing."**

"I-I was just-" He stops, biting his lip, but then he releases it and glares at me with so much hatred that I almost forget the nice little moment we had a few seconds ago. Almost. I have a feeling I'll be going to that memory for comfort a lot in the upcoming weeks. "I was just telling Sky- er, Skybrine that I hate him with a deep and burning passion and if he ever comes near me or my friends again we will not hesitate to- to fight back."

I let out a depressed laugh and bury my head in my knees again. "Of course. Of course." Knew it was too good to be true. Of course Ty still hates me. Of course. It's okay. My father told me they wanted to kill me. He warned me. I believed him, of course. Of course. I'd just hoped that maybe we'd both be wrong.

Ty sighs. "Bye."

"**If you really hate him, why don't you prove it?"**

"W-What?" Ty asks, jerking his head up to glance at the ceiling as he looks for the source of the voice, which is stupid since it's coming from practically everywhere at once.

"**Prove that you hate him."**

"I- I don't-"

"**Prove it."**

"But-"

"**Prove it."**

Ty sighs again, shrugging before crouching down in front of me again. "Sorry, Sky," he says quietly. Then he raises his voice and yells, "I hate you!" before punching me in the stomach and then in the jaw immediately afterward.

I groan and curl in on myself because there is no way in the Nether that I am going to fight back. I refuse to hurt Ty any more than I already have, which is way too much, by the way. He winces at the sound and then stands up and kicks me in the side repeatedly, and by the time he's done, the GameMaster is laughing loudly and I'm crying again and Ty looks like he's crying, too, but maybe that's just my vision clouding over. "P-Please stop," I beg him, shaking in fear and pain.

He looks at me for a long moment, probably taking in how broken I am and loving it, and then he shakes his head and walks away. He just walks away.

I let out a sob and curl up into a ball again, hugging my knees to my chest and rocking back and forth. A few minutes of silence later, the GameMaster speaks up with a completely different topic of conversation.

"**You're lucky I got you out of there before Herobrine could kill you."**

I scoff, sniffling to try to clear my voice and not sound so crybaby-ish as I reply with, "Right, so lucky. Thanks, by the way, for inviting Him here in the first place." I glare at the air in front of me, hoping the GameMaster knows my stare is directed at him.

"**It was my pleasure, truly."**

"Oh, you're such a charmer, _William."_

"**Wha- Who told you-?" **The GameMaster stops and sighs. **"Ah, yes, your father. Of course."**

"I'm going back to the Living Quarters," I grumble, stumbling to my feet and unsteadily moving in the right direction. I trip over my own feet a few times, yelping as I irritate one of the many bruises that coats my body.

I push open the door to the Living Quarters and wince after seeing the disapproving looks of Seto, Jason, and Ian. "What?" I croak, my voice hoarse.

Ian takes a fearful step back, Jason glares at me, and Seto just shakes his head.

"Fine, then. I didn't want to talk to you guys anyways," I say, rolling my eyes and practically falling against the door of my own room. I need to sit down.

The others give me weird looks, and I smile nervously. "I, um, I'm tired?" I lie badly, silently cursing myself for being crappy at life. For some reason, I don't want them to know that Ty did this to me. Who knows, maybe they'd be proud of him, but there's also the small chance that they'd judge him and hate him like they hate me, and I won't allow that. I might not deserve their friendship, but Ty does.

I slam my bedroom door shut and slide down against the door, closing my eyes and letting out a breath. I don't want to do this, I don't want to do this, can't I just go home?

Oh, wait. I lived with Team Crafted before the game show.

I don't have a home anymore.

I let out a sob and then crawl over and up onto my bed. I just need a few minutes to sit here and soak in the peace. Maybe then I'll be okay.

"_Maybe, but I doubt it_._"_

WHAT.

"_I'm still here."_

I NOTICED.

"_I'm in your head. I'm still on the game show grounds, so I can communicate with you telepathically."_

YOU HAVE HEREBY BEEN BANISHED FROM MY BRAIN.

"_You can't banish your own father from your head, boy. That's not allowed."_


	27. Chapter 27

_**Warning:** Intense sarcasm ahead. Proceed at your own risk. :3_

**Games**

**Ch 27: Geez, What Were You Thinking?**

"_Worthless."_

Shut up.

"_Stupid."_

Shut up, please.

"_Unwanted."_

"I ASKED YOU NICELY!" I screech.

"SHUT UP! WE'RE TRYING TO SLEEP!" Jerome shouts from upstairs.

"YEAH, WELL, SO AM I!" I shout back, tugging on my hair. My jerk of a father has been telepathically insulting me all night, and I have gotten no sleep at all whatsoever.

"_You're welcome, son."_

"Yeah, thanks," I mumble.

"_No problem, it's my job to make you feel like crap. Which is exactly what you are, by the way."_

I groan and pull my pillow over my head. "I can't do this," I say, and it comes out as a sob.

"COULD YOU MAYBE WEEP A LITTLE MORE QUIETLY, YOU BIG BABY!?" someone from upstairs shouts.

"OH, I'M SORRY, IS MY EMOTIONAL PAIN BOTHERING YOU? I'LL JUST GO BACK TO BEING MENTALLY AND EMOTIONALLY ABUSED BY MY DEMONIC FATHER THEN!" I shout back, willing my voice not to shake. It shakes anyways.

"_Son, you won't believe this,"_ my father's voice rings in my head again, and I groan.

"What? What won't I believe?" I ask quietly.

"_I'm watching them upstairs... They're literally just pressing their ears up against the floor and waiting to hear another sob from you. I think they find it rather entertaining."_

My eyes widen. No way. "They are not."

"_They are."_

"Liar. That's just stupid, why would they even do that?"

"_They want to see you in pain, obviously. You should have taken me up on my offer. You could have killed them _and_ gotten back your role as Prince of the Nether." _Oh, please. That's your worst try so far, Dad. I mean, I get that they hate me and all, and it makes sense that you would use that to try to make me join you again. But honestly – pressing their ears against the floor to hear my sobs? I don't think so. They're not that cruel. They don't take joy in other people's sadness.

At least, I don't think they do.

Maybe they don't count me as a person. Maybe they _do_ take joy in _my_ sadness.

This is stupid.

"But they're my friends. Erm, I mean, _I_'m _their_ friend. And I don't want to hurt them."

"_You're such an idiot sometimes."_

"Whatever," I mumble, closing my eyes and trying to go to sleep.

"_You could still join me, you know. I'd give you a second chance to accept my offer."_

I huff. "Could you just leave me alone? The wonderful William will probably want to spring another Challenge on us tomorrow, and I'd like to be at least a little prepared."

"_Just think about it."_

"I would if you'd get out of my head."

Suddenly I feel lighter, and I can tell my father has finally decided to give me some privacy.

Now, I did tell him I'd think about it.

Give me a second while I consider whether I should consider considering it...

Nah. I still don't wanna hurt my friends.

Just as I'm finally beginning to drift off to sleep, a loud voice interrupts me. **"PLEASE REPORT TO THE SPAWN AREA."**

"ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME!? IT'S, LIKE, THREE IN THE MORNING!" I whine, throwing my pillow at the wall and kicking off my blankets.

"**Oh, don't worry, Skybrine, it's a fun Challenge! No one even gets badly hurt in this one!"**

"Physically?"

"**Physically. Not _incredibly _physically injured, anyway. "**

"What about mentally and emotionally?"

He doesn't answer, and I groan, rolling off the bed. I immediately stumble toward the Spawn Area, not bothering to change out of my night clothes. Ugh, stupid GameMaster. I need my beauty sleep!

I arrive long before anyone in Team Crafted does, meaning I now have plenty of time to talk to the GameMaster. Brilliant. **"So, Skybrine, feelin' good this morning?"**

"Oh, just peachy. How 'bout you, William? Have you had a good start to your day?"

"**Indeed I have! Thanks for asking. I look forward to your death today."**

"What."

"**Okay, fine, you won't actually die today. Probably. Okay, nah, you'll probably die today."**

"What."

"We're here! Is the Challenge ready?" Jason asks the GameMaster, leading the rest of TC into the Spawn Area.

"**It is! Please follow me,"** he says, opening the brown door with the words "CHALLENGE FOUR" above it in green letters.

Inside the Challenge room is an 8 by 8 block plot of grass surrounded by several rings of blocky, beige flooring. There's a nether brick fence around the grassy part, but the rest of the room is bare.

"**In this Challenge, each of you will enter the grass plot one at a time, and the rest of you will rate that person from one to ten. When we've decided which person is the most hated in the group-"**

"I win," I announce immediately, raising a hand as I walk to the grass plot. "Now what?"

"**But we didn't rate-"**

"Can you honestly tell me that you believe someone other than me could be the most hated in this group?"

"**... No. Not really."**

"That's what I thought. Continue, please."

The GameMaster shrugs and waves the Team over to the grass plot. **"You seven will stand around the plot and basically just do whatever you want. I will supply you with any materials you want, but you are also allowed to throw weightless things like insults. You have ten minutes to do what you want."**

"Seriously?" I ask, my jaw dropping.

"**Seriously. Do you have a problem with that?"**

"Actually? Yes," I answer him. He raises an eyebrow. "Why ten minutes? Why not twenty? Geez, what were you _thinking_?"

"**I was thinking I'd go easy on you."**

"Well, that's stupid and it shows favoritism. You shouldn't favor me, William. You need to give the others a fair chance to vent their feelings."

"**Twenty minutes it is."**

"Good. I approve."

Ty shoots me a confused look, and I just shrug and sit down in the middle of the plot. What does he care, anyway?

"Commence the killing of the Sky!" I shout in the most authoritative voice available to me. This should be fun. Not really, but whatever. I can deal with a little more pain – I deserve it for hurting Ty and even considering considering considering hurting my other friends. I deserve this for being the heir to the throne of the Nether. I deserve this for being Skybrine.

Plus, this'll be a good way for the others to get out their anger. That's why I told the GameMaster to increase the time to twenty minutes; I've heard it's not healthy to keep all your anger and hatred bottled up inside.

"So we just... we just throw things at him?" Seto asks hesitantly. "We just hurt him?"

The GameMaster nods, pressing his lips together in a strange smile. **"Just hurt him. If you need anything – blocks, swords, spawn eggs, you name it – I'll give it to you."**

"But if we hurt him, we're just like him!" Jason protests.

"**What do you mean?" **the GameMaster asks. Yes, I'm very curious.

"He means that, while Skybrine hurt Ty and completely deserves this, we'd just be stooping to his level if we hurt him back," Jerome explains.

Oh, wonderful. Now I can be used in the sentence, 'If we try to murder that guy, we'll be just as bad as Skybrine!' Perfect. Brilliant. Life is going exactly how I've always wanted it to, this is great.

Oh my Notch, the sarcasm literally hurt my brain just then.

"**Nah, it's alright,"** the GameMaster assures them. **"It's no big deal. You're really only helping the world out by hurting him, actually, considering he's going to grow up to be king of the demon world."**

Ian raises an eyebrow skeptically. "What even is the point of this Challenge?" he asks.

"**If Skybrine survives, he'll be eligible for winning, but he won't actually win, because I hate him,"** the GameMaster confesses bluntly. **"As for the rest of you, whoever puts the most heart into murdering Skybrine will win."**

"That seems like a good place to insert a bad pun," Mitch says, walking over to the GameMaster. "Quick, gimme a pig heart or something so I can chuck it at Skybrine."

The GameMaster chuckles slightly. **"Extra points just for that,"** he says. **"But the number of hearts you throw at Skybrine won't actually affect who wins."**

"This seems immoral," Quentin mumbles, staring at me where I sit calmly on the grass. I'm sitting criss-cross applesauce and my elbow is on my thigh while my hand holds up my head. I'm the freaking image of calm.

"**Of course it's immoral, you should never use violence to solve your problems. However, you are in a deadly game show where morals don't apply. And anyways, Skybrine hurt you first."**

"I guess, but that doesn't seem to be-"

"**Ty?" **the GameMaster asks, cutting Quentin off. **"What is your opinion on this Challenge?"**

"U-Uh, I... I-"

"**Yes, Ty?"**

"Well, I- I think it's- Erm..," Ty trails off, glancing between me and the GameMaster.

"**We don't have all day, Ty."**

Ty huffs and glares at William. "This is so pointless! If I go along with it, Sky gets hurt, but if I stand up for him, Sky gets freaking hurt! This is pointless!" he rages before spinning around and stomping out of the Challenge room.

What. Just. Happened.

Halp, I'm confused.

I'm only registering two things right now. One: Ty stomped out of the room before he got a turn in throwing heavy/sharp objects at me, which could possibly mean he doesn't entirely hate me. And two: Ty didn't call me 'Skybrine,' he called me 'Sky,' which could possibly mean he doesn't entirely hate me.

The GameMaster glances nervously at me as Ty exits the room, and I slowly stand up, turning to face him completely. "What the freaking Nether did you do?" I growl, not exactly understanding the situation but aware that the GameMaster has something to do with it.

The GameMaster made Ty mad. Therefore, the GameMaster made _me_ mad.

"**I didn't do anything!"** the stupid GameMaster insists, holding up his hands in a defensive position. **"Maybe Ty is convinced that Skybrine ate Sky or something, I don't know. I think the stress of being assaulted by his best friend is starting to get to his head."**

"Do we still get to hit Sky?"

"**You can't go past the fence, but here, take this bow and arrow! Oh, and I have a creeper spawn egg here somewhere as well..."**

* * *

><p><em>:O<em>

_OH, NU!_

_I need a social life._


	28. Chapter 28

_Uh, on fanfiction I'd like to dedicate this to RainbowShaymin (although really ALL of the reviews encourage me to update) on fanfiction . Net, and on Wattpad, I'll dedicate it to RuskaC because of PAIN WANTAGE (that's a word now) because you guys are just brilliant, all of you are and I just felt bad because a week is _so long_ and I only give you like 3,000 words per week and have you ever read _Freak_? For a long time that book was updated daily and each chapter was SO LONG._

_I just feel bad._

_Anyways._

_En-juh-hoy. :)_

_(ALSO ASDFJ SDF I JUST LOVE YOU GUYS BECAUSE IM RECEIVING FANFANART AND FANFANFICTION AND I JUST C ANT AND THE PIC ON THE SIDE IS BY CHAO-KEEPER OR ARTISTIC-BOX ON WATTPAD, SO YEAH CHECK HER OUT. I also got some be-ay-yoo-tiful fanart from EnderSorceress via gmail, but I can't put that on the side because Wattpad is a jerk sometimes. .)_

_Notch, I love this chapter so much._

_**WARNING: A couple of suicidal thoughts in this chapter.**_

**Games**

**Ch 28: Sorry**

I'm breathing heavily as I sit against the fence, the fence that is cracked and nearly broken from all the hits it has received. My team mates – erm, ex-team mates – don't exactly have the best aim.

Oh, but don't worry, World. Regardless of their horrible hand-eye-coordination, they managed to hit me quite a few times.

Okay, more than quite a few.

The GameMaster left a minute or two ago after laughing at my pain and throwing me a few more discouraging words. The Team left before him, their faces showing nothing but hatred as they passed by me to get to the door. One of them even spat at me. I couldn't tell who; my eyesight was too blurred with tears.

I think I would have been able to get through the Challenge without much emotional damage if it weren't for Ty's words (they really threw me off). As it was, I was a sobbing mess as the people I used to think were my friends tossed rocks and bits of coal at me. They even threw budder at times, just to mock me. The GameMaster gave them daggers and swords and bows and arrows, too, and while they all used them – I have several rather deep cuts – none of my ex-friends were brave/cruel enough to actually throw a sharp object where it could possibly kill me.

Although, maybe it would have been a little less cruel to have finished me off then and there.

I think I would have liked to be put out of my misery.

Not to be overly dramatic or anything, but, honestly! What is there to live for at this point? Every-freaking-one hates me, the GameMaster finds joy in making me suffer, and my father is back and more powerful than ever. I find no joy in living.

Then again, there is the small possibility that Ty still cares about me, just a little... Would he have been mad or sad if the rest of Team Crafted had killed me today?

Would he mind if I ended this sorry excuse for a life all on my own?

For a brief moment, I find myself thinking that I don't care. That I would be happy to end it anyways, despite whether or not Ty gives a rip about me.

I'm sorry.

I'm just in a really depressing mood right now.

I yelp as I push myself up off the ground, using the fence for support and hoping it won't collapse under my weight. Ugh, I'm too tired for this, I just want to sleep for ever and ever. My everything hurts.

My breath comes out in short bursts as I stand, closing my eyes and leaning back on the fence. I think I might have a cracked or fractured rib; it hurts to breathe. Which is a problem, obviously, considering breathing is required for life.

Wait, actually, this could be exactly what I need! I'll just stop breathing, assisted by my inability to breathe painlessly, and die that way! Then I can go to- oh. I'll probably end up in the Nether, which would be bad. Very bad. But it's better than here, isn't it? I wouldn't ever be able to exit the Nether, since I'd be _dead_ and no longer able to cross between dimensions, but...

"Let me help you," someone whispers, putting an arm around my waist, and I wince and immediately jump (ow, pain) away from them.

"No, please no more," I cry, my eyes still squeezed tightly shut as I hold my arms in front of my face like some kind of shield.

"Sky..," the person says, their voice cracking, and I hesitantly open my eyes.

"T-Ty?"

He sighs and breaks the part of the fence that was already beginning to fall apart. "Yeah. Come on, I'll help you back to the Living Quarters."

"No, no no no!" I protest, sitting down (much to my body's relief) and leaning against the fence on the opposite side of the grass plot. "I-I'm staying here."

Ty slips into the plot and squats down in front of me, resting his body weight on his ankles and toes. "The Living Quarters will heal you."

"Exactly! A-And I don't want to be healed!" I decide. "I just want to stay here and die. So you can leave now, Ty. Y-You don't have to stay any longer. I'm fine r-right where I am."

Ty frowns, and his eyes glisten with what looks like pain. Oops, did I offend him? Wait, how the _Nether_ did I offend him? "Sky, please don't say that," he begs quietly, taking one of my hands in his. I stare down at them in confusion, not exactly clear on what's going on. Ty seems to notice, and he continues talking. "Can we please just go back to the Living Quarters? I promise I'll explain everything there."

"I-I..." I falter. Ty is being nice to me; he might even want to be my friend again. This is what I've wanted ever since the second Challenge.

But for some reason, I don't want to go with him right now. I don't even know for sure that he doesn't still hate me; after all, he doesn't have any reason to _stop_ hating me.

Death is sounding better every second.

"Well, m-maybe I don't _want_ to hear you explain how you've hated me since the day we met," I say stubbornly, staring down at the grass. "Maybe I'd like to go on believing that the GameMaster _made_ you hate me. M-Maybe I'd like to keep thinking you were actually my, my _friend_ before the game show." I close my eyes again before I can start crying one more time.

Suddenly, gentle arms wrap around my torso, and even though I try to flinch away, they don't let go. Ty doesn't let go. "I'm so sorry," he whispers sadly in my ear, and he sounds like he's on the brink of tears himself. "Please, please come back to the Living Quarters. We can talk in your budder room."

Whatever Ty so desperately wants to tell me, he doesn't want anyone around to hear it. He doesn't want it to be caught on camera, for sure. He doesn't want the GameMaster to know about it.

Is that a good thing, or a bad thing? What if Ty just wants to make up for the time he missed when he stormed out of today's Challenge? Maybe he just wants to hurt me a little more, but he thinks it's against the rules, so he wants to do it where the GameMaster won't see.

Or maybe he's genuinely sorry for everything.

I sigh. "O-Okay," I mutter, trying to stand up. "Fine."

Ty helps me to my feet with a small smile on his face. It quickly disappears when another yelp escapes my mouth, though. "Oh, Notch, Sky! Where's it hurt?"

"E-Everywhere," I groan quietly, because if I'm louder, I'll need more air, and I'm not exactly in a position to _get_ more air right now, so...

He shakes his head, looking guilty. "Come on, I'll help you to the Living Quarters," he says. And he does help me – he puts his arms around my waist and manages to slowly get me over to the Living Quarters. As we go, I realize the sky is dark and the moon is out. Oh, wow... we spent the _entire day_ in that Challenge.

That's a bit more than twenty minutes.

"The others are asleep," Ty whispers as I limp, with his assistance, to my room. "And I think the GameMaster is, too."

Thank Notch. It would really suck if he was to randomly call out, "REPORT TO THE SPAWN AREA FOR CHALLENGE FIVE!" Yeah, I think I would probably die if he did that.

Not that that would be a bad thing.

Or maybe it would, now that Ty doesn't seem to completely despise me...

"P-Pull the lever down," I instruct Ty when he asks me how to enter the secret budder room. He yanks on the lever, causing my bed to flip upright and reveal a spiral staircase. Ty tugs me down the stairs and into the room without hesitation, and then he asks how to lower the bed again. "Just push that button on that wall," I say, and he does. The bed falls back down with a small 'thump.'

"You're sure there aren't any cameras down here?" Ty asks, and I nod because I don't feel well and it's easier to nod than it is to speak. "You need to sit down," he frowns, pulling me over to a fluffy budder couch.

"S-So what were you g-going to explain?" I ask. The Living Quarters' healing enchantment is certainly working, but it isn't working very quickly.

Ty takes a deep breath like he's about to begin a long speech, but then he just lurches forward and hugs me tightly.

"T-Ty, need air," I pant, and he lets go, smiling sheepishly.

"I'm sorry, I just- I've missed you," he confesses, and I tilt my head slightly.

"Missed me..? But I've been in the room r-right next to yours for-"

"Not like that," he says quietly. "I mean I've missed being your friend."

"Then why'd you stop?" I ask, my voice breaking.

"I didn't want to stop!" he explains, sitting next to me on the couch. "You're my best friend, Sky, and you always have been. And I know it was stupid, but I was kind of hurt after the second Challenge, even though I know you didn't mean it-" He pauses. "At least I hope you didn't mean it?"

Of course I didn't. But I don't reply.

Ty sighs. "Well, anyways, that's why I stormed out of the Challenge Room. And then when I was at the Living Quarters, the GameMaster came – after he had finished with the others' Challenges – and, he, uh..."

I gesture for him to keep going, and he looks down at his hands before he continues.

"He reminded me of the, um, the pain that he put me through when he was trying to get you to say you didn't care, and then he made me remember how incredibly... _terrified_ you looked when he was trying to convince you that _I_ hated_ you_, and... Well, he basically just threatened to hurt you more if I didn't agree to stop being your friend, o-or to stop caring about you..."

Oh.

O-Oh.

"Wha- W-Well, why did you suddenly completely hate me after the s-second mini-challenge?" I ask.

"I- The G-GameMaster showed me clips of y-you in pain during that mini-challenge – he wanted me to step it up on the 'not being your friend' thing. Whenever I got a question wrong, I saw-"

"The videos, d-don't even _talk _about the videos," I whisper, thinking of my own mini-challenge. He frowns worriedly, but nods before continuing with something different.

"And I'm, I'm _so_ sorry, Sky!" Ty insists, looking up at me with teary eyes. "I'm so, so sorry, more sorry than you'll ever know! I _do_ care about you, Sky, I care about you a whole lot, but I put you through _so_ much, and, a-and... Ugh, I'm j-just so sorry, Sky... And I don't even expect you to forgive me, because I-I've been absolutely terrible to you, and... I'm so sorry!"

"T-Ty?"

"Yeah, Sky?"

"I-It's okay."

* * *

><p><em>:D<em>

_YAY!_

_SKY AND TY DON'T HATE EACH OTHER!_

_Well, actually, they never hated each other in the first place._

_BUT NOW THEY'RE OFFICIALLY FRIENDS AGAIN!_

_*dances stupidly around living room*_

_I'm way too fond of this fanfiction._

_BAIIIII, MY BE-AY-YOO-TIFUL RULERS! (I'll be back in like two minutes with the next chapter)_


	29. Chapter 29

**Games**

**Ch 29: Jeffery(s)**

Ty and I slept in the secret room last night.

His original plan was that I would sleep on the couch while he just slept on the floor (he refused to leave me alone last night, he wanted to be by my side for whatever reason – not that I'm complaining), but I found an extra budder bed in one of the chests and forced him to sleep in it with me. Not _with _me, just, like.. with me. Yeah.

Ty says that he'll have to pretend to hate me again whenever the GameMaster or the rest of the Team is around; he doesn't want the GameMaster to find out he told me about all this, because then the GameMaster might hurt me.

"But if one of our friends tries to harm you again," Ty told me last night as I mentally corrected 'our friends' to 'his friends,' "call for me, okay? Because screw it, I'll help you out and we can just own the GameMaster together."

So, yeah. Ty doesn't hate me. Ty is my friend.

I like that.

There's still a little part of me that wants to believe that this is just some huge prank, some kind of evil trick. That when I wake up tomorrow morning, Ty will genuinely hate me again.

I don't know.

I try to ignore it.

Ty is with the others right now, acting like he hates me and is scared of me, and I'm hiding in my room, crying and acting like it's because Ty hates me.

Yeah, it's not.

You see-

"_Shut up, boy, don't go spilling your secrets to everyone you meet."_

Yeah.

My dad is back.

I guess he sensed my slowly growing happiness and figured he should put a stop to it.

Yeah.

My father is so caring.

"_Stop with the sarcasm, kid, you're making it harder to communicate with your thoughts."_

Oh, I'm _so_ sorry, dear father! I'll put an end to the sarcasm _right away_. I certainly wouldn't want you to stop invading my privacy by reading my mind, now would I? That would be terrible!

"_It doesn't matter anymore, I got past it. Keep going, if you want."_

I sigh, wiping my eyes with my gloves and then leaning back against the headboard of my bed. At least he doesn't bother me _that_ much. It's just the occasional comment on my thoughts, that's all. So long as I don't picture anything rebellious or inappropriate, I should be fine-

"_You think rebellious and inappropriate things?"_

Erm, no?

"_Son, I'm not an idiot. I heard that question mark."_

How? It's a freaking question mark!

"_Don't argue with me," _he growls.

"Oh, great, now William's rubbing off on you," I mutter. "Next you'll be hating me unfairly, tearing me away from my happiness, and trying to get me to kill my friends- Oh, wait, you already do that."

He ignores me after that. In the past few hours, I've found that he doesn't appreciate it when I talk about the GameMaster. I think they have some kind of weird past together. I mean, I already know that the GameMaster hates me because I'm the son of Herobrine; now I just have to figure out what the deal is with those two.

"**Dinner time!"** the GameMaster shouts. Oh, wow. I don't think we've ever had a proper dinner in the time that we've been on the game show. Most of the time, we were consumed by either Challenges or wounds, whether they be physical or emotional.** "Skybrine, please trip and die on the way to the Dining Hall."**

"Yes, sir!" I shout, saluting the air as I march out of my room (after wiping my eyes one more time, of course). Then I pause in the middle of the hallway. "Wait, we have a Dining Hall?"

"**Yes, we do."**

"How come we never use it?" Like, dude, you could at least tell us we have one!

"**You guys are always crying in your bedrooms about your horrendous social lives."**

"Shut up, it's _your_ fault."

"**And I am extremely proud,"** he replies, and I groan as I wait in the hallway for the others.

Then I remember I don't have to do that anymore.

Or maybe I do, since Ty is my friend again..?

Nah, screw it. I don't wanna blow our cover or anger anyone else in Team Crafted.

As I jog across the plains biome to the blood red building that I swear wasn't there yesterday, I wonder what sick trick he'll try to play on us at dinner. Will he make us hunt our own Jefferys? Jason would hate that. No, like, Jason would _really_ hate that. It would probably traumatize him. Okay, here's the plan: If William reveals that we are having fresh pork for dinner, I am shoving Jason outside, whether he wants me to or not.

And that idiot GameMaster had better not offer Ian cake- Oh, hold on, I think the GM actually took away Ian's Derp powers before the game show.

Hmm, are any of my other friends at risk?

Uh, Quentin isn't too fond of seafood, despite being a 'mudkip' and not a fish... Jerome won't eat cooked fish... Other than that, we're all good.

Ugh, I hate how I'm still worrying about them even though they're not worrying about me anymore. I need to stop that.

But I'm not sure I can.

"_Hey, Sky."_

What?

"_Hey, Sky. Sky, Hey."_

What do you want?

"_Hey, Sky-"_

"You sound like a squid," I mumble as I walk.

"_Do I? Hmm. Aren't those the creatures you have a horrible phobia of?"_

"It's not a phobia!" I defend myself, my cheeks heating up.

"_Maybe it wasn't before you joined this crap game show, but it certainly is now."_

"It's none of your business, anyways," I grumble.

"Oh, wow, so now you're talking to yourself?" Mitch snickers, walking up behind me with the rest of TC.

I sigh. "No."

"Really? Then who exactly were you talking to?" Jason asks.

"I- Um-" I can't tell them it was Herobrine, they'll flip out and think I'm even _more_ like Him! What do I do? People don't normally communicate telepathically, and even if I _could_ telepathically communicate with normal people, who would I talk to? Everyone hates me except Ty-

"Guys, come on, I'm hungry," Ty says quietly, pushing Mitch and Jason forward and away from me. The others follow, and Ty shoots me a 'we will definitely talk about this later' look.

I just shrug and continue on toward the blood red building.

"**Are you eight ready for dinner?"** the GameMaster yells as we enter. I don't even bother covering my ears this time. Sure, I'm feeling a lot happier now that Ty doesn't hate me, but my father is still listening in on my thoughts. Even if he wasn't, you have to be _really_ happy to be me. Like, I require ridiculously large quantities of happiness each day just to be who I am.

That's why my personality collapsed so quickly when Ty started hating me. Or pretending to hate me. Whatever.

"**We're doing something special for dinner," **the GameMaster says, and I can practically _hear_ him smirking. **"We're feasting on pork chops, cooked fish, and cake! Oh, and body parts, too, but that bit is optional."**

My eyes widen. OmiNotch, I was right! But if I know the GameMaster, and I think I sort of do, he won't just stop there. He'll go even farther.

I'm already moving towards Jason, who will definitely be affected the most, when the GameMaster speaks again.** "But this isn't any regularly served dinner,"** he begins even as I push Jason (against his will) towards the building's exit. While Jason struggles against me and whispers harshly at me about my idiocy, heritage, and murderous tendencies, the GameMaster finishes his small speech.

"**We're going to hunt for the pigs and fish for the fish – we're going to murder all the Jefferys!"**

* * *

><p><em>WOOT WOOT<em>


	30. Chapter 30

_*stumbles out of bed* *makes poptarts* *glances at computer*_

_TIME TO POST!_

_Also, there's some beautiful fanart by Kbrava on deviantart, but you can't put links on ff . net, so..._

_**WARNING: There is a tad bit of pain for one of the main characters in this chapter. **_

_**Oh, and there's also some animal abuse.**_

_**DISCLAIMER: No IRL pigs were harmed in the making of this fanfic.**_

…

_**OTHER DISCLAIMER: No IRL Skys were harmed in the making of this fanfic.**_

_**Unless it was for learning or research.**_

_**IN THE NAME OF LEARNING!**_

**Games**

**Ch 30: Thoughts = Words = Actions**

Jason is horrified; I can tell by the way he screams like a girl and then clings onto my arm while glaring at the GameMaster.

"You can't make us murder those innocent creatures!" he protests, seeming not to realize that he's latching onto the arm of a person he hates with a deep and burning passion.

"Since when are you a vegetarian?" Ty asks, having no memory of any time before the games. Ugh, stupid memory wipes.

"It's not that, it's just-" I begin, trying to fit Jason's love for pigs into words. "It's the pigs. He has a pet pig named Jeffery, and it's really special to him."

"How does he remember it?" Ian asks.

Seto shrugs, smiling slightly. "Some things are just worth remembering. Some things are too important to forget."

"What, so your pet pig is more important than our friendship?" I ask Jason, pretending to be offended.

Jason's eyes suddenly harden as he glances at Ty and then back at me. "We aren't friends," he growls as he pulls away from me, and my mood instantly drops. For a second there, it had felt like it used to. It had felt like we were all friends again.

I sigh but continue pushing him towards the exit anyway."Well, whether we're friends or not, we're going back to the Living Quarters before the GameMaster forces you to-"

"**Jason! How would you like to kill the first pig?"** the GameMaster asks innocently, appearing in front of Jason and holding out an iron sword.

"No thanks," I say shortly as Jason goes limp, finally allowing me to drag him closer to the exit.

"**Skybrine! Stop being annoying, I'm trying to ask Jason if he wants to murder a Jeffery."**

"I-I don't, but thanks for the offer..?" Jason replies in a small voice. I open the door to the building.

"**Oh, don't be silly! It'll be fun!" **the GameMaster insists, spawning a pig in Jason's line of vision and then immediately stabbing it right through the heart.

Jason nearly faints.

My eyes widen, and I hastily shove Jason out of the building. Then I slam the door shut behind us and turn the terrified boy to face me. "Come on, Jay, it's alright! You don't have to watch that anymore. It's okay, you're alright..," I whisper, pulling him into a hug and rubbing gentle circles into his back as I note the slightly irrelevant fact that it is now dark outside.

"H-He murdered him!" Jason cries, still limp in my arms. "It's different when Jeffery falls off a cliff or accidentally catches himself on fire, but the G-GameMaster flat-out _murdered_ him!"

"Shh, I know. It's okay, though, he won't murder any more of them," I promise, but I'm not exactly sure of my words.

Ty suddenly bursts out of the red building. He quickly scans Jason and me, and something flickers in his eyes. Sadly, it goes away before I can tell what it is.

"What do I do?" I mouth to Ty over Jason's shoulder.

He shrugs with wide eyes as if to say, "How the heck should I know?"

I bite my lip helplessly as Jason continues to sob into my shirt. "Help, this is awkward," I mouth.

Ty giggles silently, and then he finally makes his way over to us. "How are you doing, Jason?" he asks quietly, resting a hand on his shoulder.

Jason shakes his head slightly and burrows deeper into my shirt. Honestly, it's sort of uncomfortable, but whatever. The guy's bawling his eyes out, I'm not gonna push him away.

"Hey, bud, it's alright," I say softly.

He suddenly jumps away from me, wiping his eyes roughly with his sleeve. "Oh my Notch! Ty, I am so sorry, I didn't mean to- I mean, it's not like I forgot what he did to you, I just- I- Oh Notch, I am _so_ sorry!" he splutters, switching back and forth between glaring at me and sending apologetic glances to Ty.

Looking down at the boring ground (hey, at least it doesn't hate me), I try to ignore the pain in my chest as Jason finishes.

"Um, Jason, do you think... Could you forgive him? Could you maybe stop hating Sky? I mean, as long as he promises not to hurt you or me or any of the others?" Ty asks, adding the last phrase as an afterthought.

"You mean- But aren't you still mad?" Jason asks, looking confused.

"I don't matter. I just want to know how _you_ feel about Sky."

"Uh... Well... Don't hate me for this, Ty, but... I kind of miss him. Then again, I'm also scared of him, so..." He trails off, glancing up at me and then quickly averting his gaze.

"You didn't seem scared of him when he was holding you and comforting you about Jeffery," Ty points out with an almost undetectable trace of bitterness in his voice. I doubt Jason heard it.

"Yeah, I guess... I mean, he was acting like he used to when he was our friend, and..."

"I'm still your friend," I interrupt, crossing my arms stubbornly. "I know you aren't _my_ friend, but I will _always_ be yours."

"Yeah," Jason whispers, looking at his feet. "Yeah, I could definitely forgive him."

Ty nods and pulls me over to Jason. Then he positions us in a small huddle so no one on the outside can see what we're saying. "Okay, I actually don't hate Sky," Ty explains quietly, smiling a little.

Jason's eyes widen as he exclaims, "What!? But I thought- I mean, he tried to kill you!" I wince, and Ty shushes him, telling him to be more quiet in case the GameMaster has any cameras around – which he surely does. "Seriously, though," Jason says in a quieter voice.

"It wasn't Sky's fault, he thought he was fighting his father," Ty replies, shrugging.

"How'd you know that?" I ask.

"You told us."

"O-Oh. And you- you believed me?"

"Of course. I had no reason not to. I'm one hundred percent sure you would never hurt any of us on purpose, Sky." Ty smiles at me, and I smile back weakly.

Oh, Ty. I wish I could tell you how much I love you.

Oops, did I think that out loud? Er, did I think that?

"_Yes, you did, Son."_

Oh, great, you're back.

"_And I'm now aware of one of your biggest secrets. You aren't just crushing on the boy, you _love_ him."_

Wonderful.

"Sky? You okay there?" Ty asks worriedly, his eyes searching my face.

"I-I'm fine, it's just- I'm fine," I stammer, trying to collect my thoughts.

"_I want to kill my friends. I want to kill my friends. I want to kill my friend-"_

"Shut up, that's not one of my thoughts," I hiss at my father.

Out loud.

Snap.

"What?" Ty asks with a shocked tone as he and Jason back up slightly. I sigh. Great.

"U-Uh, nothing! I just, I was- Erm, a fly was in my ear, and... yeah. Yeah," I stutter.

"_A fly, huh?" _my father's voice snickers. _"I'm pretty sure a fly can't do _this_."_

Wha-?

I immediately fall to my knees, clutching my head tightly as a sharp pain fills it. Little slits of pain, like pieces of shattered glass, attack my mind, and I groan, finding myself unable to think properly. "Sky!" someone shouts – I can't tell if it's Jason or Ty. "OmiNotch, Sky!"

"Are you okay?" asks the other one. "Sky, tell us what's wrong!"

"_I want to kill my friends, I want to kill my friends, I want-"_

"St-Stop!" I cry out, hanging my head and squeezing my eyes shut. "Stop it!"

"Stop what? Sky, please, what's wrong!?"

"_I want to kill my friends."_

"_I want to kill my friends."_

_I want to kill my friends._

I want to kill my friends.

* * *

><p><em>:D<em>

_WOOHOO!_

_HEROBRINE IS FINALLY GETTING THROUGH TO SKY-_

_Oh, wait, are we not on His team..?_

_*nervous laugh* W-Well, then, I'll just... I'll just go now..._


	31. Chapter 31

_Also there was an wonderful AMV made by Maniac Momentum on Youtube (again, can't link on ff)._

**Games**

**Ch 31: Accept the Cannibalism**

"I want to kill my friends," I blurt. Jason's and Ty's eyes widen, as do mine. "I-I didn't mean that! I- It's my dad, he- Augh!" Another wave of pain assaults my head, and I moan. "H-Herob-brine..."

Jason and Ty exchange a glance and then drop to their knees beside me. "It's okay, Sky, you're going to be okay," Ty insists, taking my hand off my head and holding it.

"Tell us what He's doing," Jason urges me, putting his hand on my knee.

"I-I- He's- Ahh!" I pause for a moment, sucking in air through clenched teeth. "My f-father has been – agh! – t-telepathically communicating with me, a-and- and he w-wants me to hurt you guys, b-but I w-won't... Ack! No!" A few tears run down my cheek, and I choke out, "M-Make it stop, Ty! Please make it stop..."

Ty looks pained. "I- I'm sorry, Sky, I-I can't!"

"Maybe if you just thought about something He doesn't like? Like, uh, like Notch or something!" Jason suggests worriedly.

"I-I don't think it works that way," I respond, grinding my teeth together.

"Don't worry, Sky," Ty assures me softly, squeezing my hand and then pulling me into a hug. "You'll get through this. It can't last forever."

I melt into his hug, and, to my surprise, the pain melts as well.

Dad?

'You there?

"T-Ty?"

"Yeah?"

"I-I think He's gone," I whisper, hugging him tightly.

"Hey, I want a 'Sky's-not-in-pain-anymore' hug!" Jason pouts, crossing his arms until we laugh and allow him into the hug.

Ty suddenly frowns, though, and steps away from us. "Sky, why didn't you tell us?"

"Well, up until yesterday, you all hated me. Obviously I wasn't gonna go to you guys with my problems," I answer, shrugging.

"What about last night?" he asks.

"What'd you do last night?" Jason asks, grinning and wiggling his eyebrows weirdly while glancing at us both.

I facepalm, but Ty doesn't even catch on. He just replies casually, "I told Sky I didn't hate him and that the GameMaster had been threatening me." Then he turns back to me. "Why didn't you tell me then?"

I smile sheepishly, biting my lip. "I, uh, I didn't think it was that important?"

"Sky," Ty groans, dragging his hand down his face. "How could you _not_ see that as important?"

"Uh..."

"If I know Sky as well as I think I do – though I probably don't, considering I've really only known you since the start of the game show – then he probably just didn't wanna bother you with his problems. Am I right?" Jason asks, raising an eyebrow in question.

I nod slowly. #Psychic Jason.

"_Oh, shut up, no one hashtags anymore."_

"Um, hello, _I_ hashtag!" I huff, crossing my arms.

"Erm..."

"Oh! S-Sorry, I- I'll respond in my head from now on..," I chuckle nervously, rubbing the back of my neck. Ohhh, I'm an idiot. Who wants to bet they both think I'm insane?

"Is He back?" Ty asks. I just nod.

"Tell him to go bye-bye," Jason instructs. I roll my eyes and glare at him.

"Why would you think for even one second that that would work-" Ty begins, but I cut him off.

"I've already _tried_ that, Jason. Geez. What do you think I am? Stupid?"

"_Bingo."_

"I will literally murder my father when I find him," I growl.

"_No, you won't."_

"Will, too!"

"_Will not."_

"Will, too!"

"I feel like I'm missing something," Jason says, furrowing his eyebrows.

Ty rolls his eyes. "Come on, we need to go back inside before people start freaking out or something. We'll work on your Herobrine problem later, Sky."

"Mkay, thanks," I say, grateful to have two of my friends back.

We walk inside – first Jason and Ty, and then, after fifteen seconds, me. We can't have them thinking we actually like each other. **"Ah, you've finally escaped from Skybrine,"** the GameMaster praises them right before I walk through the door. The majority of Team Crafted glares at me, and I look down at my feet.

"**Well, Jason, you've missed the Jeffery slaughtering, but we can still go fishing!"**

"Thank you," Jason mouths to me when no one is looking. I smile and nod.

"**ARE YOU READY TO FISH!? Oh, and after fishing, we can have the body parts, I swear they taste better every year. And finally, after that, you'll be served the cake."**

"Erm, Mr. GameMaster? Ian isn't too fond of cake, is it okay to skip part of the meal..?" Quentin asks.

I like how not one person has complained about the 'body parts' course of the meal.

"**Oh? And why isn't he fond of it? Everyone is fond of cake!"**

"Yeah, well, Ian isn't. I think it's something from before the game show? I'm not sure. Neither is he."

"**Then how can you be sure he doesn't like cake?"**

"Just _drop it_, man. He doesn't like cake, okay?" I growl, glaring at the GameMaster. I am so done with this guy.

"**Fine, fine, Ian can skip the cake. Geez, Skybrine, what's _wrong_ with you today?"**

Um, hello? The same thing that's wrong with me every day. I raise an eyebrow and cross my arms, still glaring. "As if you don't know."

"_Son, are you stupid? Of course he knows! He just wants to make you suffer."_

I sort of knew that already.

"_Don't act like you know everything."_

I didn't- what? I just said-

"_Rawr."_

Now you're just filling up my head with stupidity – even more stupidity than there already was.

"_Double rawr."_

"**Don't use that tone of voice with me, young man," **the GameMaster growls at me, and I raise an eyebrow in surprise.

I roll my eyes. "Gosh, sorry, _mom_."

The GameMaster's eyes widen, and he opens his mouth to say something, but then closes it again. He does this several more times before, finally, his gaze hardens and he sneers, **"I will not hesitate to choke you with your own intestines."**

I metaphorically glue my mouth shut.

The GameMaster rolls his eyes. **"Idiot. You know what? Forget this. I'm not in the mood to either help you fish _or_ turn you into cannibals tonight. Everyone, please return to the Living Quarters. And remember, you have Skybrine, here, to thank for your grumbling stomachs."**

I groan and bang my head against the wall, knowing this will result in even more torture for me. Strangely, though, none of my ex-team members so much as glance at me as they leave.

The GameMaster poofs away soon after.

After a good five minutes of feeling guilty, I have a small plan that won't take long to carry out. And, no, it's not anything big. I won't be taking out the GameMaster or anything crazy like that.

I'm just gonna help out my friends.

* * *

><p><em>So, what do you think he's gonna do?<em>


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